KFP 3: Dragon and Phoenix Unite
by KFP-DW1
Summary: Tigress may have learned to keep the troubled past she knows behind her, as Po had, but when an old foe threatens the Valley of Peace, will uncovering the missing fragments of her past be her home's only hope? And is her fate more entwined with the Dragon Warrior's than either of the two warriors first suspected? Tigress/Po, Mei-Ling/Crane, and Mantis/Viper
1. Training

**A/N: This story has originally been posted in Deviant Art under my DA account. I already have 13 chapters posted there, and I'll be uploading them here regularly.**

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It was a bright, sunny morn, with a few thin wisps of cloud scattered here and there in the beautiful bright-blue canvas of the sky. The radiance of the golden sun preside over the towering Jade Mountain from which Jade Palace sat atop and filtered through the canopies of the ironwood tree copse near the Training Hall, from which a repetitive din of resounding boom noises echoed at even intervals. Many of the trees there had deep dents in their trunks, others were practically broken and toppled over, and many were little more than piles of sawdust – for this was where Master Tigress had trained for twenty years, building a tolerability to physical pain that reached a point where she was practically numb to it from the shoulders down. She now not only had the strength to pulverize an iron hammer with one punch, but she could do so without feeling a thing. She had shared this information with Po during a sparring match on their trip to Gongmen City.

Po was utterly astounded by Tigress' inability to feel physical pain, even wishing he had it himself, but he was rather reluctant at first to follow Tigress' method of training when he learned that this ability was gained through twenty years of punching ironwood trees. It was upon his return to the Valley of Peace that Po finally found the courage to do this sort of training, and Tigress was more than inclined to oblige herself in coaching him.

The other four members of the Furious Five were usually there to witness the remarkable feat of Po's hard-style training – they would never have thought that a warrior with such a soft body would go through with hard style. On this day they watched in apprehensive astonishment as Po tried to set a new record for how many punches he could throw without wincing.

"Stop him!" Mantis shouted, but it was lost on his comrades as they counted the number of punches Po threw. "It's too dangerous!"

Heedless the little insects warnings, everyone else continued to count.

_Thud!_

"Forty-four…"

_Wamp!_

"Forty-five…"

_Bam!_

"Forty-six…"

_Thump!_

"Stay focused," said Tigress.

Now, reader, it is clear from what you're reading that you're envisioning Po directing his punches into the trunks of the ironwood trees, but you'll be surprised to find that this is not exactly the case. What he had been directing his punches at was the next best thing—right into the callous-armored palms of Tigress.

"Forty-seven… Forty-eight!"

Po finally stopped, letting out a cheerful whoop as he threw up his paws, only to have them flop limply by his sides. "Wooh! Forty-eight punches and no wincing!"

There was a brief burst of jubilant cheers from the onlookers, especially from Mantis.

"Yes, yes! New record, you monster!"

"Keep going!" said Monkey. "Hit fifty!"

"He'll never hit fifty," said Crane.

"No problem," Po said confidently as he began swinging his paws in a windmill-like motion. "Get those hands ready, Tigress. I'm about to throw in a Double Whammy."

Tigress shot out both of her thick striped arms, paws wide open and ready to receive the blow. "Do it!" she goaded.

Po summoned all the strength he could muster into his arms as he gave them a few more spins before finally slamming his fists straight into Tigress' palms, resulting in a resounding thunderous thud.

An agonizingly tense hush fell upon the onlookers as they anxiously awaited Po's reaction. Had he thrown in those last two punches too hard? Was he about to let out a yell of pain?

There was a lengthy wait. Then, Po took a deep breath, took two steps back and sighed cooly, "Fifty."

The onlookers remained stunned with shock for a moment longer, before finally exploding with jubilance, shouting cheers and praises. Tigress stood cooly, arms folded and elaborately marked head nodding in approval. "Your training has paid off, Dragon Warrior."

Po bowed in salute. "Yeah, and my Inner Peace is helpin' me bear through the pain."

The subtle grin on Tigress' features grew more prominent. "Well, _bearing_ through the pain is just _part_ of the process, but your Inner Peace should also be helping you out when you actually get to hitting these trees; we should be moving on to that soon." She then gave the panda a light, friendly punch in his black, flabby arm, causing him to turn rigid.

"Excellent," Po replied through painfully gritted teeth. "But I still think you make a good substitute." He returned the arm punching gesture to Tigress, causing him to turn rigid once more.

Tigress did not bother to stop her smile from growing larger with amusement. "Maybe, but you won't know training like mine until you get some ironwood splinters in your hands." Thin, black lips parted just a slit to subtly reveal her sharp, pearly teeth—clearly she'd love to see how Po handles punching actual ironwood trees.

"Uh, yeah, ironwood splinters in my hands," Po said sheepishly as he rubbed his still-smarting paws and strained to hold a smile. "Can't wait to feel that."

"Don't worry," Tigress said in a reassuring tone as she patted Po's shoulder. "The process of desensitization may take twenty years, but you won't even know those splinters are there after about _five_."

Po nodded, and then cocked his head to the sky. "Oh, look at the sun. Hey, Mantis, didn't Master Shifu want to see us for something at this time?"

Mantis knew that Shifu wasn't really expecting to see them—he knew that whenever Po tried to dismiss himself and Mantis after a training session with Tigress, it was for an acupuncture treatment, but Po always to guise it as another reason. Nevertheless, Mantis humored him. "Yeah, Po, we'd better get going." He then made a long leap from his usual perch on Monkey's shoulder to Po's. "Come on, Po, we'd better not keep Shifu waiting."

"We'd better get to our other duties, too," said Crane as he strode after Po, with Monkey and Viper tagging behind. He paused to look back at Tigress, who idled by one of the trees as she intently studied it. "You coming, Tigress?"

The momentarily distracted Tigress glanced to the skinny bird. "Huh? Oh, uh, you guys go ahead—I'll catch up with you."

Crane shrugged his wings, before turning around to resume with his path. "Suit yourself."

And with that, Po and the rest of the Five left Tigress to ruminate beneath the shade of the ironwood trees.

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**A/N: If you've watched The Lion King, you'll find that "Oh, look at the sun" quote quite familiar.**

**Feel free to tell me what you think of it.**


	2. Rumination

**Here's our second chapter.**

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Tigress had spent a considerable length of time ruminating within the heart of the ironwood copse to a point where she sat down beneath the shade of a tree and assumed a meditating position, as she found herself lost in a deep reminiscence. Not long since the day her foster father, Master Shifu, had adopted her from Bao Gu Orphanage had she begun practicing the training method of punching ironwood trees. With their thick trunks and dense wood as hard as iron (hence their name), punching these trees was a torturously agonizing, bone-shattering form of training, but striving for all it was worth to grow up to be the best warrior she could be, Tigress knew that it would be worth it. It was originally founded by gorillas, but this form of training was adopted into Tiger Style training, for the tigers—being fierce, powerful and direct when it came to combat—strongly admired this training method, for not only did it help strengthen one's punches, it trained one to endure pain to a point where if one persisted long enough they could deliver and receive powerful blows and not feel a thing, yet bring great pain unto their opponents. It hardened a trainee's fists and muscles and made their hands and limbs so tolerable to the pain of harsh impacts that it practically felt like nothing (thus Tigress' claim: "Now I feel nothing." It made them impervious to the harshest of blows, numbed from the pain of it from their shoulders down to their fingers (from their hips down to their toes, if they'd practiced _kicking_, which Tigress had also done). Pain can be a warrior's greatest hinderance; when trained to be able to tolerate it to great extents they last very long in battle, but when trained to be able to deflect a hammer blow or punch through an enemy's thickest armor and not feel it they were practically invincible. Punching ironwood trees was indeed a rather extreme form of training, but it was truly a very sufficient one.

Only the most hardcore martial artists followed this form of training, and most of them were tiger Masters of Tiger Style or gorillas (considering that they were the founders of this training method), but martial artists and Kung Fu Masters of other species have also been known to follow it, and usually these came from species known to posses great strength; leopards, lions, various other felines, wolves, rhinoceros, oxen, yaks, water buffaloes, takins, other primates, crocodiles, komodo dragons and even bears – this, of course, meant bears such as brown bears, moon bears and Tibetan blue bears, as far as Tigress knew. She couldn't imagine a bear as ridiculously awkward and quirky as a panda attempting such an excruciating form of training, but then again she never imagined such a bear becoming the Dragon Warrior either, the of course there was Po. Po was perhaps every inch of your typical panda, and yet he had found himself in a position that one would not expect a member of his species to find itself in. It was safe to say that Po was a very special panda, and not just because he was possibly the last surviving member of his species – Tigress felt very sure that no other panda could gain such a revered status (except maybe a Chieftain for a panda community) or the bravery to undergo the harsh training she had experienced. Of course, with him being the Dragon Warrior (which is a very high status), Po had to be trained to be as hardcore as he could be. Po was indeed a very unusual panda.

It had been such a long time since Tigress began making visits to the ironwood copse. These visits had ended when her training with punching these trees was completed and now possessed the strength to punch right through a tree's trunk and tolerability to do so without feeling any pain from it, but these visits started afresh a few weeks after she, Shifu, and her friends had returned from Gongmen City, when Po decided to follow Tigress' hard-style training. When Po retired to the Student Barracks for an acupuncture treatment after a session of training, Tigress would find herself lingering in the copse, reminiscing on the days she spent punching the trees there, as Po would soon come to do. It was these memories that really got her to think—her goal to make her Sensei proud was her uppermost motivation for training herself through punching the ironwood trees, but it wasn't that fact alone that drove her to do it, nor the inspiration from the scroll she read of warriors that had trained in such a way. In addition to those two things there was something else that drove her to punch the trees, something deep within herself that she found difficulty explaining, and it was this thing that she soon found herself contemplating over. This thing was something almost instinctive. When she had first visited the ironwood copse, she was still new to Jade Palace, and very seldom back in Bao Gu orphanage was she permitted to be outdoors, but even there she could not recall being near trees like the ones she trained two decades with (but of course, she was far too young at the time to identify tree species), and yet standing in the presence of ironwood trees felt so familiar. Familiar in a sense that it was as though an ancestor before her had spent time amidst ironwood trees and that the familiarity of being in such a surrounding was passed down hereditarily to her.

Suddenly, Tigress' analyzation of this mental phenomenon was abruptly interrupted as her ears detected a nasally avian call.

"Ka-Kaw! Kee-Kee!"

She knew that call anywhere, and as though to confirm who the suspect was, Crane lighted right in front of her, with all the grace of the bird of his namesake. She instantly came alert and leapt nimbly to her feet the moment Crane's twiggy legs touched the ground.

Crane pointed a wing as he said urgently, "Tigress, bandits at the Orphanage!"

A sudden chill surged down Tigress' spine at the mentioning of the word "orphanage." She prayed the orphanage Crane wasn't referring to the one she hoped he wasn't, but of course it had to be.

"You mean Bao Gu Orphanage?" she asked, even though the answer was obvious—Bao Gu Orphanage was the only establishment for housing orphans in the Valley, so of course it had to be it.

Crane would have answered, "Well, I don't see any other orphanage in the Valley," but because of the urgent situation, he simply answered with a few hasty nods.

She inwardly cringed at the very thought and memory of that dreaded place—Bao Gu Orphanage, where she had spent the first few years of her life as far back as her memory could reach (of course, she was certain that as a very young cub the very first page of her life began elsewhere before her unknown parents had left her at the Orphanage). Those years were without any doubt her worst, for she had spent them in ostracism. Her care-takers showed her no love, only fear and sheer horror. As a cub she possessed a breath-taking strength that she had not gotten to familiarize herself with, and because of this the care-takers would not permit her to play with the other children, for fear that she may seriously hurt them…or worse. But they did not yet come to fear the young tiger cub until they learned how dangerous her incredible strength was when combined with her explosive temperament, which at the time she held absolutely no restraint over. What was even more terrifying was the fact that her temper had a hair trigger – it took very little to bring out the worst in Tigress. Sometimes, the tiniest annoyance was just the tiniest snowflake it took to bring down the avalanche of her fury. Because of this, the care-takers of Bao Gu Orphanage showed nothing but fear to her, deprived her of care and affection, kept her caged in her own room like some primal animal, denied her of any access to the world outside the four walls of her room (which had grown to feel like a prison cell to her), and as if that weren't enough they had the gall to cruelly brand her as a monster.

Then Shifu entered the young cub's life and said to her the one simple remark that brought a small beam of light into the darkness of her life, the one simple remark that she could remember as though it were but seconds ago: "You're not a monster, you're just a little girl." He had shown her the compassion and care that none of the care-takers would show her, and he taught her how to control her strength and temper. Having learned self control and no longer prone to violent outbursts, the care-takers and the other children soon began to loose their fear of her, they no longer kept her confined in her room, and treated her like a normal child. From that point on, they never treated as a monster nor addressed her as such. It was the turning point of her life, but it was when Shifu took her in and brought her to Jade Palace that things truly began to skyrocket for young Tigress—it was one of the best moments of her life, second only to that day when she and the rest of the Five had to evacuate the villagers of the Valley when Tai Lung was arriving that Shifu, after over twenty years of withholding, finally revealed how proud he was of her; _that_ moment was the single greatest moment of her life, because it was at that moment that she saw that after over twenty years of pushing herself to do better than she could possibly do, her goal was finally reached, her goal of making Shifu proud of her efforts. Since the very moment Tigress had reached Jade Palace, she had made her life's mission to be the best student her new Master had ever had; it was to be her way of telling him: "Thank you. Thank you for being the light that pulled me out of the darkness of my life. Thank you to eternity." And now that she had heard him say how proud he was of her, Tigress' heart, for perhaps the first time in her whole life, was finally at rest.

Because of the troubled past she had back at Bao Gu Orphanage, Tigress tried to keep that chapter of her life far behind her, and it pained her to have to revisit that place, but she knew that she could not ignore the call of duty, wherever it sounded. She knew she would have to bear through it and carry on stoically.

She nodded at Crane dutifully. "Gather the Five, I'll meet you down Jade Mountain. And tell Po we're not stopping for snacks this time."

Crane gave a sole nod before taking to his wings to carry out the task, muttering under his breath, "I thought it was Monkey's turn to tell him that."

The skinny bird's remark was not lost on Tigress' keen ears under all his wing flapping. As she rushed off to descend the mountain, a thin smirk of amusement grew on her lips—Po really needed to cut back on the snack stops.

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**A bandit attack at Bao Gu Orphanage? Now this should be interesting. Stay tuned and tell me what you think of it so far.**


	3. Bandits at Bao Gu

**Here we have Po and the Five setting off to deal with what first seems to be some common bandit attack, but will the battle that will soon engage foretell the start of something bigger?**

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All was peaceful within the Valley of Peace, placidity presided over the quaint little village housed within its protective border of mountains, all except for one particular place—Bao Gu Orphanage. It was there that chaos reigned. The entire place was under siege by an invading horde of bandits; crocodiles with their scimitars and tri-prong-tipped flamberges, wolves with their dadao swords and guandao spears, and clouded leopards with their blade-toothed fenghuo lun rings and butterfly swords. They shattered windows, bulled down doors, smashed walls, whatever they could do to enter the building. They raided the halls, ravaged rooms and harassed the helpless orphans and caretakers with harsh threats and interrogations that the baffled victims could not answer, for they knew nought of what these bandits wanted.

The apparent Commander of the crocs in the gang, who was larger and brawnier than the other crocs, was now ringing his claws around a sheep nurse's throat, shaking her violently as he issued her unanswerable questions. "Cough up the answers, you ball of wool, where is the stone?"

The sheep nurse choked, coughed and struggled for breath as she kept her hooves clutched on the thuggish reptile's scaly hands, as though making a vain attempt to loosen his vice-like grip of her throat, as she replied through what little breath she could summon, "I don't know what you're talking about. What stone is it that you're looking for?"

"You know what stone I'm talking about!" the croc barked fiercely, "The Yang Stone! Where's it hidden? Speak!"

"I'm sorry," the sheep coughed, "I don't anything about this 'Yang Stone' or why it's so valuable to you. We don't keep stones inside the building, or let the children handle such things—they could hurt someone, you know. If this Yang Stone you speak of is some kind of gem or something of the like, I'm afraid we don't have valuables of that sort anywhere here. The only objects of value we have is money given through charitable donations. You can take all of it, but I'm sorry, we don't have any jewels or gems here."

The crocodilian thug tightened his grip of the hapless nurse's neck as he drew her closer to his long-snouted face and snarled viciously, "Don't give me that act, give me the Yang Stone! I know the stone is in here, and I know that you know where it is! Now tell me, or I'll make a nice coat out of you, wool bag!"

Just as the croc reached for his scimitar to emphasize his threat, an abrupt, muffled call sounded out from somewhere in the distance and seemed to be reaching a crescendo.

"_Ka-kaaaw! Ka-kaaaw! Kee-keeee! Kee-keeee!_"

Everyone had heard it, and at that instant all activity suddenly ceased. Bandits, orphans and caretakers alike snapped their heads in every angle they could think of, and asked the nearest creature if they had heard that sound, or if they knew what it was that made it.

The thuggish crocodile throttling the sheep nurse peered over his shoulder and leapt startled, nearly dropping the sheep, as he saw standing behind him a large panda garbed in white, gold-trimmed, silken robes, a rich cerise cape, a black sash and a conical straw hat much like Crane's.

"Hey, buddy," the panda, Po, said casually as he assumed a fighting stance, "Ready for some Bear Style action? _Whataw!_"

Cheers of utter jubilance immediately rose among the children at the sight of the Dragon Warrior, who had appeared behind the croc seemingly out of oblivion.

"The Dragon Warrior!" a small gosling shouted gleefully as he clasped a wing on the tail of a nearby clouded leopard and pointed the other wing to indicate the Dragon Warrior.

The leopard lifted her tail to make the young gosling's eyes level with hers as she eyed him and the panda skeptically. "The Dragon Warrior, the most renowned Kung Fu Master in all of China…is a panda?"

"I thought those were extinct?" another leopard whispered.

A wolf standing behind that leopard made light jabbing motions with his guandao towards Po as he growled, "They will be _soon_—I'll see to it."

Suddenly, leaping into the room from a doorway (whose doors had been removed by the invading bandits) were the Furious Five, which increased the joy of the children and caretakers. Like Po, they too were donning new outfits (except for Viper and Mantis, who never wore any clothing of which to speak of), but theirs were, however, were not much different from their usual attire other than the color—Tigress' vest was now bright-green, trimmed with gold and embroidered with dark-blue dragon patterns, her waist wrap was also gold, and her pants brown; Monkey's wristbands were black, his sweatpants blue, and his sash purple; and Crane's pants were richly green, and his sash yellow.

The croc thug released the grip of his right hand from the sheep's throat to draw out his scimitar, as he gestured the blade to the five fighters, still looking at Po. "What's this, your little gang?"

"The Furious Five actually," Po replied. "Defenders of the Valley of Peace, most powerful Kung Fu warriors in all of China, and Masters of Tiger, Snake, Crane, Monkey and Mantis Style!"

Each of the Five nodded respectively to each of the styles Po had orally listed.

The croc thug nodded calculatingly to the quintet before returning his attention to Po. "And you're with them?"

"Indeed I am," Po answered pompously.

"And you're gonna try to stop us, is that what you're here for?"

"That is correct, my scaly, long-snouted friend…well, not exactly my friend, more like my enemy; y'know, 'cause you're a bandit.

The croc nodded thoughtfully as he made his calculations. "Right, so there's five of them, with you that's six. Okay, so that's six of you, and eighteen of us…hmm…six against eighteen, that doesn't sound like very good odds to me."

Po's expression grew bold and cocky. "Maybe not, unless those six happen to be the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior, the awesomely puissant sextet that took down a whole army of wolves and gorillas, that fought and defeated the fierce and dreaded Tai Lung who could defeat a whole army himself! Ohoho, buddy, if you pick a fight with the Startling Six (that's the Five plus the Dragon Warrior), you have no idea what you're in for. Now, unless you want to find yourself tangled in the brawl of your life, I'd suggest you put that poor nurse down, gather your bandit buds, pack it in and march it on out of here."

The croc patience with the panda was being worn thin. He hissed harshly at Po as he prodded the panda's large paunch with the tip of his scimitar. "You listen here, bear, you and your five friends over there may be no ordinary warriors, but we're not just some bandits either—we're trained fighters, too, and we got plenty of friends back at where we came from. Now look, what we're doing here is _our_ business and doesn't involve you, so I suggest you and your friends step aside and find yourselves some other bandits to bother, 'cause we got us some very important business to take care of here. And if you don't mind, I've got someone to interrogate."

The croc thug had been so occupied with conversing with Po that he failed to noticed a switch occurring until it was too late. When he turned to head to face the nurse again, expecting her to still be in his hand where he last saw her, he found that it was no longer the unfortunate sheep's throat he was clutching—to his complete shock, in the place of the sheep nurse's neck was Tigress', and the big athletic feline was now glaring down into the brutish reptile's once bold and fierce, now fear- and shock-stricken eyes.

With utter puzzlement now replacing the his fearful shock, the crocodile began to falter as he tried to enquire what had just happened and how it had. "B-b…what the…howdja…wh-where's the…h-how…? I…I thought there was a sheep here just a moment ago?"

Tigress blinked frostily, her face never altering the direction it faced, but her golden, orange-irised eyes shifting left and right, scanning the area. She then redirected her gaze down on the croc and replied flatly, "I see no sheep, only a cowardly, pathetic excuse for a thug harassing defenseless nurses and children, with a little gang to help him out."

The croc slowly and cautiously loosened his grip of Tigress' thick neck and carefully drew his hand back to his side as he said irenically, "W-We weren't harassing these nice folks here."—his scaly hands splayed out wide to gesture to the caretakers and children, whom he also failed to noticed had snuck out of the building whilst he was conversing with Po—"W-We were only looking for a little white stone, which we heard is somewhere hereabouts, and we were just asking these folks if they knew where it was."

Tigress noticed that the croc was making subtle nodding gestures as he spoke. Knowing how crafty bandits are, she quickly realized that he was signaling to someone. It was at that instant that she heard Viper's voice crying out, "Behind you!" and whipped her head around in the direction her snake comrade indicated, spotting two lean-looking crocodiles standing on the far side of a hallway, each grasping a bow loaded with a shaft aimed for the tiger's back. They launched their shafts the second Tigress saw her, but she was too quick for their missiles.

In one swift, lithe movement, Tigress whirled herself around and deftly caught both arrows in either of her big, muscly paws. Then, in another twirling movement, she tossed one of the arrows back towards the two croc archers and the other at a wolf on the opposite end, shaving the fur off his cheek as it grazed past him.

A single terse declaration was uttered in unison from Tigress, Po, the croc Commander, and a wolf and leopard sharing the same rank as he over the wolves and leopards in the horde.

"Five…"

"Soldiers…"

"Attack!"

In a trice, the rest of the Five and the other crocodiles, wolves and leopards hurtled themselves upon their enemies. Monkey gamboled and leapt over and around his foes with swift, slippery agility, as he threw quick, snappy punches and kicks at their unprotected quarters; Mantis dodged his opponent's blows with quick grasshopper-like jumps, diced their blades with the scythe-like claws of his forelimbs, and attacked their pressure points; Viper inflicted lithe, whipping blows to her adversaries and tripped them by entangling their limbs with her tail, coils and streamers, and even applied her signature "Puppet of Death" attack; Crane demonstrated his swift pirouette-like dodges to his opposers, delivered surprising powerful kicks with his long twiggy legs, and deflected hits with his wing; Tigress unleashed a tremendous level of fury and thew unto her combatants as she lashed out at them with her powerful arms and legs, battering them senseless with her hardened paws as she inflicted punches and kicks with a stunning force that sent her opponents flying; and Po delivered some punches and kicks himself, but mostly fought his enemies by ramming them with his large, blubbery bulk. The Dragon Warrior's words proved truthful—he and the Furious Five, in spite of their small number, were a force to be reckoned with. Crocs, wolves, and leopards were being flung hither and thither and heaped atop one another.

Tigress had either of the two croc archers in her paws, as she twirled around like a top, one leg and both arms extended from their sides to topple and bowl over any foe that approached her. As she made her last few spins, she hurtled the two crocs – one colliding with a clouded leopard, the other with the wolf whose cheek fur had been grazed by one of the thrown arrows that had come from one of the two archers. She sensed someone standing behind her – whirling around, she saw the brutish crocodile Commander positioning to bring a large, studded hammer down on her.

The instant the croc's hammer began swinging upward, the thewy patherine folded her arms into a shielding position over her chest and face to deflect the blow. Her offender ducked his head as his hammer bounced off the broad, thick bulk of Tigress' exceptionally large, muscle-swollen forearms.

The croc stood stunned for a moment, blinking in astonishment and letting his hammer hang harmlessly by his side. "Whoa, you sure can deflect. That should've crippled anyone else's arms, but _you_ took that like it was nothing."

Having judged that the hammer was now off her by the sound it made as it left her, Tigress let her arms fall. "Of course. I've punched ironwood trees for two decades."

The croc twirled his hammer expertly, grinning craftily. "Really? Hah, I figured." He then tossed his hammer into the air and adopted the same deflecting pose Tigress had taken, as the athletic big cat aimed a twirling kick at him. He then lowered his arms when he heard Tigress' foot thudding off them, and let his grin grow. "So did I."

His maceball-tipped tail deftly caught the handle of his falling hammer, and with that he swung his tail, aiming to strike Tigress in her unprotected right flank, but she was too quick – she made a high leap and shot out a leg to deliver a powerful kick onto the croc's midriff that sent the loutish reptile flying straight into the Commander of the bandit gang's wolves, whom Viper had been dueling. Both wolf and crocodile crashed right through the door of an orphan's vacant room.

Brushing the unconscious wolf away from himself, the croc quickly rose to his feet and drew out his scimitar. He brandished its curved, golden blade at Tigress as he snarled darkly, "That does it, tiger. Now I'll show what I'm really made of." He then lunged straight for Tigress, his scimitar poised for a swinging strike.

Tigress braced herself for the attack, but when she saw the crocodile's now prominently showing right arm plate, time itself seemed to decelerate dramatically just for her. On the croc's arm plating there was a symbol; it resembled a Yin and Yang symbol of blue and red, at it was encircled by eight flames of such colors.

Suddenly, all reality deserted Tigress and was replaced with curious visions—she saw the tiny paws of a tiger cub reaching up pleadingly to a strangely familiar tigress, who merely gazed apprehensively down upon the poor cub before turning away to hastily flee; she saw a curious stone that bore the very likeness of a yang swinging back and forth on a string looped through a hole where a yang's black dot should be; she saw a small, white tiger cub wrapped in a blue cloth; and she saw a rearing jet-black cobra with his head thrown back and two gleaming fangs of silver bared as his mouth flung open to release what was somewhere between a roar and a hiss. He then whipped his head around, revealing a red-and-blue yin-yang that decorated his brow.

"Tigress!"

The familiar higher-pitched voice snapped Tigress back into reality. She saw Viper pouncing onto the approaching croc and wrapping two coils around him; one coil around his thick, scaly throat, the other around the wrist of the hand holding the scimitar, controlling its movements like the strings of a puppet. The snake forced the croc's arm to swing around this way and that until the sword came flying out of his hand, then reeled back his hand in such a way that it slammed violently into his face, thus making him punch himself in the face involuntarily. The croc would have used his free hand to stop the other from hitting his face, had it not been more important for his to paw at and try to loosen the coil that tightened around his throat, staunching off his air supply—suffocating and inflicting punches on himself against his will, he was truly at a disadvantage.

With her mind now back to where it should be, Tigress immediately took advantage of the croc's hindered state and delivered a powerful punch into his midriff, sending him flying once more back the way he came. However, instead of ending up back in the room he was flung into earlier, the croc found himself bouncing off Po's great paunch and flying straight back to Tigress, who dealt him a right-hook jab that sent the brutish reptile crashing right into the ceiling.

Left with only the clouded leopard Commander to lead them, the remaining bandits who had not been severely beaten by Po and the Furious Five quickly scrambled out of the window openings and fled the Orphanage, deserting their injured comrades and their unknown objective. Po didn't stint himself at hurtling humiliating jeers at the fleeing criminals and gloating over his and the Five's triumph over them. "Yeah, run back to your bandit mamas, you cart-chasers. Next time you get plans of robbin' in this valley, you'll remember us and how we totally whooped your sorry little tails, which I can see you tucking between your legs! Hah!"

The orphans and caretakers reentered the building, relieved that the ordeal had finally passed, whilst the rest of the Furious Five gathered around Tigress, who was gazing absentmindedly at the floorboards, reviewing those strange vision she had suddenly seen.

Deeply concerned for her feline comrade, Viper—who had leapt off of the croc Commander she had dealt with just seconds before he had collided with Po—slithered up to Tigress' side and raised herself as high she could. "Tigress, what happened?"

Tigress did not answer, unsure herself what had just happened.

* * *

**What could all this mean? Is there more to these bandits than what first meets the eye? And is this Yang Stone all about?**


	4. Yang Stone

**Here's our little introduction on this Yang Stone.**

* * *

"What happened?"

Tigress was inwardly asking herself the same thing. What _had_ happened? The most she knew was that she had just witnessed a bizarre, inexplicable sequence of bewildering visions upon seeing the curious symbol on the croc Commander's armor, but why did she see them? What did they mean? There was one vision, however, that she found rather easy to interpret—the one in which an unknown tigress supposedly deserts the cub reaching up and mewing pleadingly to her. She was willing to explain the most she knew of what she had seen, but not until she was alone with her comrades.

"Let's get these bandits bounded up," Tigress sighed. "I'll explain everything later."

Without any disagreement, Po and the rest of the Five set about finding whatever they use to bind the unconscious bandits that remained. Tigress was about to do so herself, when the sheep nurse she had rescued from the croc Commander hurried to stand in the tiger's way. She stopped to look down at the sheep standing there before her—she looked awfully familiar, and sounded awfully familiar as well as she spoke.

"Tigress, I must thank you for saving me and everyone else here."

Tigress was almost certain that this sheep was one of the caretakers who raised her when she was but a cub. When she heard that sheep's voice, the memory of that hated remark banged into her memory.

_"No one would adopt a child because they're afraid of her—she's a _**_monster_**_! A _**_monster_**_!"_

She was that very one.

The awful memory combined with that familiar voice made Tigress wince at every word the nurse spoke. She shook her elaborately striped head lightly, as though trying to shake that memory out of her mind, as she held out a paw and replied modestly, "You have no need. We were merely doing our duties."

The sheep nurse latched both hooves onto Tigress' paw, which was huge compared to the sheep's small hooves. "No, I truly must thank you, _you_ especially, after how we had treated you all those years ago. You've certainly come a very long way from the cub we feared so greatly and dubbed so cruelly. We just hope that you don't still hold it against us."

Tigress gazed sympathetically at the sheep for a moment, before replying, "My honor does not permit past grievances to restrain me from answering the call of duty, but I also do not find it honorable of me to hold wrongs that have been resolved long ago against those who had committed them. What had happened here in my days as a cub was years ago, and has been resolved long then. One should leave troubles of the past to that time, for they no longer matter—it's what one chooses to do with oneself in the present that matter." She glanced over at Po, the sage who shared with her the lesson he had learned from Lord Shen's Soothsayer when he had sought to learn the truth about his past and his parents.

Tigress then returned her attention to the sheep nurse, almost having forgotten that the sheep had been holding onto to her paw, on account of being unable to feel it. "Of course you are forgiven."

The sheep nurse smiled gratefully up at the big feline, her head feebly bobbing in light nods. "Thank you, Tigress. My, how you have come a long way, from that troublesome handful of an orphan cub to this successful, revered, handsome Master."

"And the center of countless fans!" a young but gruff voice exclaimed.

Tigress looked the crowd of orphans, from whom a small quintet somewhat older than the rest shoved their way through to meet with the tiger Master. These kids were very distinct from all the others, for they were of species one would expect to find in the Valley of Peace (rabbits, sheep, goats, ducks and geese), these were a wallaby, a gharial, a barn owl, a pangolin, and a rhinoceros beetle perched on the pangolin's shoulder, much akin to Mantis perched on Monkey's shoulder.

"I told you one day we'd meet the Furious Five," said the wallaby to his friends.

"I was always certain you'd prove right," replied the pangolin. "I just never thought we'd meet them in person this soon." His beady eyes were shining with astonishment, but not more so than the wallaby's.

Tigress couldn't hold back an amused grin as she kneeled down to level her gold-and-scarlet eyes with the young marsupial's. "Well, it seems we have some fans here."

The stunned little wallaby was speechless for a moment, but then gave some light nods. When he had found the confidence, he made a Kung Fu salute and said, "You bet, Master Tigress. Especially of you and…"—he drew in his breath sharply as he saw Po striding up to Tigress' side upon hearing a mentioning of fans—"…the Dragon Warrior!"

The panda beamed an impressed smile down upon the young quintet. "Fans of the Five, huh? Say, you guys look kinda like a mini Five yourselves."

Tigress couldn't help but agree—apart from the difference in species and gender (in the case of the wallaby, gharial, barn owl and rhinoceros beetle), these five orphans were practically a young mirror image of the Furious Five.

Mouths agape, the five orphans were utterly stunned and speechless. The gharial was rapidly fanning his hands to his narrow-snouted face and on the brink of hyperventilating. "The Dragon Warrior…talking…to us…" He suddenly began toppling over, as though he were about to faint, only to be caught by the barn owl, who gave him a gentle shove forward to help him regain footing.

A black-and-white male goose waddled up to Po's side (having overheard the conversation between Tigress and Po and the five orphans), smiling in amusement as he nodded to the young quintet. "They _are_ quite the little warriors, aren't they? I saw them in action during that bandit raid. When those bandits tried to interrogate them, these youngsters certainly gave them a few assaults to think about." He chuckled with mirth.

A large smile curved on the young wallaby's features. "We've always dreamt of learning Kung Fu and becoming our own Furious Five one day." He and his cronies then whipped into fighting stances, very much akin to the posses the Furious Five would often strike.

Po pulled back slightly in pretense surprise. "Whoa-hoh! If I had met you guys just a second before you struck those posses, I'd have thought you _were_ a Furious Five! Heck, I'd be shocked outta my mind you didn't turn out to be one."

Still grinning, Tigress' whiskers twitched mirthfully as she nodded to Po's words. "Agreed. Who knows, maybe we might consider taking them under our wings and teach them ourselves?"

The orphan quintet went stock still. This time it was the Wallaby's turn to faint, only to be caught by the gharial, who fell backward in a faint himself, only to be caught by the pangolin, who did likewise and was caught by the rhinoceros beetle. The barn owl rolled her large, dark eyes, as she shook her round, flat-faced head.

Tigress' ears suddenly twitched and cocked as she heard others conversing behind her, mentioning something of a Yang Stone.

"I do wonder what a Yang Stone could be?"

"It must be something valuable, if those bandits were desperate to get their claws on it."

"They must think it's somewhere in here."

"Why would they think that? I don't know anything about a Yang Stone. Do any of you?"

"It must be here, or at least, I think it must—I mean, if those bandits were looking for this Yang Stone, why else would they look for it here? They must've known it's here, or at least, had an assumption that it is."

"They're bandits, roving scavengers – they'd search a scorching, barren desert for goods. Besides, how could a stone that we knew nothing of until just now end up here without our knowledge, and when?"

"I just wish I knew what on earth a Yang Stone is, what it looked like."

"I've heard of a Yin-Yang: it's a circle with one half black with a white dot, the other white with a black dot. The white half is the Yang, of course. If this stone is named after that, it must look like a Yang. But why is that important?"

The vision of the curious Yang-like object hanging by a thread suddenly beamed into Tigress' mind as she listened to the debate over this Yang Stone. She turned to face the people conversing—there was a white goose, a pig and the sheep nurse Tigress had spoken to earlier.

"Yang Stone," Tigress said abruptly, interrupting the conversation between the three caretakers. "Is that what these bandits came here for?"

The sheep nurse she had spoken with nodded. "That crocodile you were handling was interrogating on it. I just wish I knew what it was."

The young wallaby's voice sounded out timidly from behind Tigress. "Uh…a bandit asked me something about a Yang Stone. I don't know if it's the Yang Stone they've been looking for, but I've got something that looks like a Yang."

He reached a paw down the neck of his vest and produced a medallion of some sort. It appeared to be made out of alabaster and it bore the shape of a curving teardrop, giving it a strong likeness to a Yang. However, in the place of the black dot one would expect to see in a Yang was a hole through which a thread was strung to hang it around the wallaby's neck.

Tigress' eyes became transfixed on the Yang-like medallion—it bore the exact resemblance of the object she had seen in the bizarre vision she had experience. The very segment of the vision that featured this object flashed in her mind again.

Slowly approaching the young marsupial, the athletic feline pointed a claw to the medallion. "W-Where did you get this?"

The crocodile Commander, whose arms and legs were bound together with curtains by Monkey and Crane, was suddenly coming to. His eyes began to flicker open, and the first thing to greet his eyes was the sight of a small marsupial presenting a white Yang-like medallion to the tiger he had been dueling with. He automatically sprung to his tethered feet and tried to pounce as he bellowed out, "YANG STONE!" only to flop down on his scaly stomach in an undignified fall.

Working his bounded limbs as best he could, the crocodile tried to scramble his way towards the wallaby, only to be stopped dead in his tracks as Po quickly dealt him a stunning kick to the left temple, knocking the lights out of the assaulting reptile.

All eyes then turned to the young wallaby and the object that the croc Commander had proclaimed as the Yang Stone. An epiphany dawned upon them all.

The sheep nurse Tigress had saved from the menacing croc walked up to Tigress' side, curiously eyeing the white medallion the young joey was wearing. "So, that must be this Yang Stone that those bandits were fussing about. But do tell us, Qiáng Jiǎo, where _did_ you get this?" (**A/N:** Qiáng (pronounced: _Chang_) Jiǎo (pronounced: _Ja-ow_) means Strong Leg)

"Remember that you told me that the bedroom I live in once belonged to Master Tigress?" asked the wallaby, Qiáng Jiǎo. "Well, some time ago, I found a little tiger doll. When I was playing with it, this thing fell out. There was a slit on the doll's back, so this Yang Stone must've been hidden in there."

"A tiger doll?" Tigress parroted in an enquiring manner, her gruff voice heavy with pensiveness. "I remember having that back when I lived here."

"Ah, yes, I remember that as well," replied the sheep nurse. "It was laid right beside you in the little basket we found you in as a cub. It must have been given to you by your parents before you were separated from them."

The vision of the fleeing tiger mother replayed in Tigress' mind. She strained to banish it from her thoughts as she focused on Qiáng Jiǎo. "Do you still have the doll? Could you show me to it?"

Qiáng Jiǎo nodded and led the big feline to the room she resided in as a cub.

The second Tigress stepped into the room, memories came flooding in, many of them relating the cruel past she had lived and sending an icy chill down her spine. She remembered all those claw marks marring the walls all too well – how they suffered when she needed to vent out her anger. All the other orphans shared a bedroom, with their beds filed side-by-side; Tigress, on the other hand, had her bed placed in a separate room, where she was confined, isolated from all the other children. It wasn't a room to Tigress, it was a cell, as though she were a deranged, mentally unstable murderer who would slaughter anyone or anything in sight, or some animal completely incapable of coherent thought, or—as the caretakers had so often addressed her as—a monster.

"How did you end up in _this_ room?" Tigress asked Qiáng Jiǎo. "This is the room they kept me locked in so that I wouldn't terrorize the orphanage…back when they considered me as…" There was an uncomfortably long pause – she strained hard to finish her sentence, but the word was trapped in her throat.

Qiáng Jiǎo, having heard the story of Tigress's days in the Bao Gu Orphanage, now felt that he had to finish the tiger's sentence for her, since she was clearly struggling to do so herself.

"A m-monster?" he asked timidly, heavily worried that reminding the big feline of what she had been called in those days would result in upsetting her. Somewhat to his meagre relief, Tigress simply nodded, her expression unchanged.

"You've heard the story?" she asked.

Qiáng Jiǎo nodded hesitantly, awkwardly tracing patterns on the scrapped floor with a long foot. "I also heard that this is the room you stayed in back when you used to live here. I know you told me that, but I heard it long beforehand. And because you're one of my biggest heroes, I decided to move in here."

He looked to the small fractured-framed cot—its red cover was emblazoned with a golden flower very akin to the ones on the vest Tigress usually wore. Seated upon it was a small doll made into the likeness of a tiger. Picking up the doll, and flipping it over to show the back of it to Tigress, Qiáng Jiǎo pointed to a line of stitches running vertically down the doll's back. "These stitches are new, but there was another set here when I first found this doll. They didn't look like they were sewn in too well, so they must've come undone when I was playing with it the day that medallion-thing fell out. When it did, I took a look at the doll and found a slit in its back – that must've been what the stitches were for, to keep it closed and the medallion inside."

The young joey placed the doll into Tigress' callous-hardened palm as she kneeled down and extended a large, strong paw. Tigress then seated herself upon the small cot, studying the stitched-up slit on the back of the doll. "If this medallion, or Yang Stone, has been in the doll that's been with me since the day I ended up in Bao Gu Orphanage, it must have something to do with my past. Can I see that thing, Qiáng Jiǎo?"

Qiáng Jiǎo lifted the Yang-like medallion from his neck and handed it to Tigress. "You can keep it, too—after all, it was in your doll, so this probably belongs to you as well."

Tigress thoroughly scrutinized the curious medallion as she held it up to her face. She was almost instantly mesmerized by the Yang-like object that rotated left and right before her gold-and-red eyes on the thread that looped through where the black dot on a Yang should be. She could feel some atrophied memory emanating from beneath deep subconscious layers in her brain, but in spite of her strains she could not manage to dig it out and examine it coherently.

"M-M-Master Tigress?"

Tigress snapped back into reality and directed her attention back to the young wallaby. "I may have to hold on to it for the time being, but this Yang Stone—if that truly is what it is—must have belonged to someone else before it was placed into this doll. And if those bandits value it so greatly and know what it's called, it must be of significant importance."

"Maybe it belonged to a province ruler," suggested Qiáng Jiǎo, his voice heavily laden with wonder at the thought of it, "or maybe even the Emperor himself. You could've come from royalty, and that Yang Stone could an heirloom, _your_ heirloom."

"It certainly is something to wrap one's head around," Tigress replied, her striped head swaying lightly. "But for all we know, it could've been _stolen_ from a great ruler by some bandit and hidden in this doll, which may not have originally been intended for me but somehow found its way to me. It could've ended up with me by accident, but then again, one of Oogway's sayings is that there _are_ no accidents – the bandit may not have intended for the Yang Stone to end up with me, but destiny may have. Why, I don't know. But whichever way it ended up with me, I'll have to find out where this thing came from, what it is, who it belonged to, and what it's for; especially who it belonged to, for as far as we are aware, we could be looking at stolen property. Besides, why would anyone leave something so valuable with an unwanted child?"

Qiáng Jiǎo noted that the burly tiger was slipping into depression. Seating himself beside her, he placed a comforting paw on the feline's lap. "Don't think like that, Master Tigress. Who wouldn't want you?"

As though to mentally answer the young marsupial's question, Tigress reminisced on the fleeing tiger mother in her vision, the caretakers who so cruelly branded her as a monster, and her adoptive father (Master Shifu) who only saw her potential of becoming a Tai Lung redo.

"Maybe it was just that something had happened to your parents, and that doll and Yang Stone were for you to remember them by," Qiáng Jiǎo continued, trying to raise Tigress' spirits. "Or if that Yang Stone really is something important, maybe both you and it were under threat of something, and your parents left you somewhere where the threat couldn't find you."

Tigress sincerely believed that a more likely reason that her parents had left her was the same reason that everyone in the orphanage feared her, but she smiled thinly and nodded in agreement to the young wallaby's words, not wanting to crush his attempts to cheer her up. "Perhaps your right," she said, placing the tiger doll on her lap and ruffling Qiáng Jiǎo's ears with a hefty paw. "So, do you know anything about your parents? I mean, I've never seen a kangaroo in China before – I've heard that they live in Australia, and I heard that it's pretty far south. How did you end up here?"

"I'm a wallaby, actually," Qiáng Jiǎo replied. "It's like a kangaroo, but smaller, or at least that's what I'm told—I've never seen a kangaroo or another wallaby like me. I have heard that they live in Australia, but I don't know how I got here in China, nor do I know what it's like where my kind lives—China's the only home I know, or at least the only home I can remember."

Tigress felt sympathy for the little joey; alone in a strange land, never having known another one of his own kind, she could imagine how he must've felt, and how Po must've felt, being the only panda in the whole village and perhaps even the only panda left in all of China – she too felt the same way.

She felt the joey leaning against her side, his face pressed against it and small wet tears seeping into her vest as he wept silently. Curling her orange-black-and-white striped tail comfortingly around Qiáng Jiǎo, Tigress stroked his back with a large, strong, but gentle paw. She paused as she noted the joey's body tensing at the sensation of her heavily calloused palm running down his back – it felt like a rough stone against his fur.

As she tried to stroke the little wallaby gentler, Tigress couldn't help but feel guilty for having brought up that question that caused him to go through this state of despair. "I'm sorry, Qiáng Jiǎo. I didn't mean for you to—"

"It's fine," said Qiáng Jiǎo in a voice that was scarcely more than a whisper. As overcome with sadness as he was, he was bemused that such a tough, hardcore, platinum-souled warrior like Master Tigress would show such compassion. Being in a state where comfort was needed, however, he didn't question it.

Pulling the young joey onto her lap, Tigress wrapped a thick, strong arm around him, pressing him close to her body, like a mother with her child. Still stroking him, she made soothingly gentle shushing sounds, which eventually became replaced with a velvety lullaby that she had remembered since cub-hood. She could not remember where she had learned it – she doubted that the caretakers of Bao Gu sang it to her, for not once did she recall them ever singing to her, let alone saying anything directly to her; they were far too fearful of her at the time to even look directly at her. She often sang it to herself on lonely nights when she turned in for bed in her cell-like room—those were the only times she could remember hearing it.

Lulled by the hummed song from the athletic pantherine, and the warmth emanating from her large arm muscles, the young wallaby's weeping slowly ebbed as the spell of slumber palled over him. No sooner had this occurred, than Tigress found herself slowly nodding.

Darkness covered Tigress' vision as she was fully engulfed by slumber. All was black, save for a faint blue and red phosphorescence glowing somewhere below. It rose until it became apparent as a cluster of blue and red embers, which began to lick their way up until they grew into fully fledged flames. A tall, feline figure slowly rose from the flames – it was a white tigress, who bore an almost exact resemblance to Tigress herself. She even wore a similar vest, but it was blue, trimmed with gold and embroidered with crimson flame patterns.

The white tigress stood solemnly amidst the scarlet and sapphire flames, showing no reaction as they licked against her blue vest, which bore no signs of singeing whatsoever. She held up the Yang-like medallion, and jet-black serpent seemed to materialized from behind the white tigress' powerful shoulder. He coiled himself around her sinewy limb and, with all the sinuous grace a snake could possess, glided through the loop of the thread strung through the medallion's hole. He held his gaze directed straight at Tigress, his fearsome eyes glowing with a fiery rage that Tigress knew was directed at her, spawned from motives and reasons she knew nothing of. The familiar blue-and-red yin-yang was showing, and Tigress immediately recognized the snake as the cobra from her vision.

The serpent's hood flared out—as if to confirm that this was, indeed that very cobra—and his jaws parted wide open, revealing his two gleaming, silver fangs. Suddenly, a white glowing orb materialized from the cobra's mouth, enlarging and expanding as it shot forward, engulfing everything within Tigress' view with a blinding white radiance.

* * *

**Could this Yang Stone really be a part of Tigress' past? If so, in what way? Stay tuned and find out.**


	5. Enter the Plot

**What have these bandits really been up to with this Yang Stone? Let's find out with a few of the escapees.**

* * *

Meanwhile, in a patch of wilderness some distance from Bao Gu Orphanage, the remaining bandits (led by the clouded leopard Commander, the only one out of the three horde Commanders who hadn't been subdued and captured by the six famed warriors) hurried into the cover of a gingko copse. When she judged that they had gone deep enough, the leopard Commander called the subordinates to a halt, and they needed no second bidding. The leopards leaned against the trees with dignified grace, whereas the crocodiles slumped on their stomachs carelessly upon the grass as they struggled to catch their breath, and the wolves seated themselves upon the scaly backs of their reptilian comrades as they set about licking their wounds.

The leopard Commander shook her head disdainfully at lounging soldiers. She was just about to rebuke them on their failure, when she noted the dappled patches of light on the ground before her dimmed out as a large shadow loomed out from behind her. Whipping out her fenghuo lun ring, she wheeled around to confront her would be attacker, only to find that it was a familiar ox. Letting her limbs relax, she stowed away her fenghuo lun and pressed a fisted paw into the palm of her other paw as she bowed in salute to the ox. The lounging soldiers immediately scrambled up into attentive stances and did likewise.

Gazing formidably before the leopard, with hefty arms folded and a foothoof tapping impatiently, the ox had only one response to give: "Well?"

The leopard Commander raised her head slightly and opened an eye. "Sir?"

"Where is the Yang Stone?" the ox asked. He then looked to the meagre remnants of the horde. "And why are there less of the soldiers present than you and those other two nitwit Commanders were alloted when you were sent to storm that orphanage?"

The leopard Commander dipped her head ruefully as she answered, "We were searching for the Yang Stone in the orphanage, but then came along these warriors who called themselves the Startling Six – they were all Kung Fu Masters. There was a mantis, a monkey, a crane, a snake, a tiger and a panda. We had them outnumbered three to one, but they fought like tenfold our number and defeated many of us. The other two Commanders were beaten, and I had to flee with what was left of the scouring band."

The ox blinked down at the leopard, his flat, indifferent expression unchanged, but then he shut his eyes as he began to sway his head from side-to-side in either disappointment or mock pity. "Those six warriors must've hit you too hard in the head while you were battling them – pandas are extinct, and the only tiger left in all of China is…well, you know who. Unless… Did it look like a Bengal tiger, or a Malaysian, or Sumatran, or Siberian, or something?"

"No, sir. The only injuries I have gained are a few bruises and scratches, and I find it safe to assume that the same can be said for the others," replied the leopard. "My head is perfectly intact and I know what I had seen—it was a panda and a tiger, a Chinese tiger born and bred in China; the markings on her forehead do not lie."

The remaining soldiers began chattering in support to the leopard Commander's claims.

"It was a panda, all right. I saw it we my own two eyes!"

"I've only got one, but it's like a hawk's and it's never lied to me before—I saw that panda clear as day, and the markings of a Chinese tiger were as plain as…well, as the markings stamped on that tiger's forehead. It couldn't be any plainer."

"I saw those markings, too; they were like a leaf surrounded by a flame. I've met many tigers of many different variations, but I've never known another kind who bears markings like the ones I just saw."

"And I saw the stripe running from her palm down her forearm, too! Only Chinese tigers have that!" (**A/N:** In early concept art of herself, Tigress has this.)

"And that bear was a panda, no doubt—I met plenty of bears myself, but I don't know any other bear whose got a paunch like a panda's, even if it just painted itself to look like a panda."

The ox found it difficult to argue with so many voices, even though they were only seven of the original eighteen, for he knew that there had to be some out of this number who were perfectly sane and knew what they were talking about. Nevertheless, he couldn't quite wrap his head around another living panda and Chinese tiger. "But that's impossible—the last living colony of pandas known was wiped out in a genocidal massacre over two decades ago, and there hasn't been another sighting of a living panda since. Same thing for all the Chinese tigers, that is, unless you include…well, you know who. Hmm… Could there really be survivors?" He fondled a horn with a hoof, a gesture oxen usually do when they feel inquisitive.

One of the wolves lightly nudged another fellow canine. "Can you believe they didn't credit the ones who got rid of those pandas?" He gestured a paw to himself and the fellow wolf.

"They don't need to," said a croc, who overheard the remark, as he stood looming over the two lupines. "We all know who were the ones that did it." He gestured a scaly hand to himself. "Just as we all know who were the ones that dealt with all those tigers. Now keep your trap shut—Jing Lì's is talking." (**A/N:** Jing Lì means Stout Power)

The ox, Jing Lì,then shrugged. "Ah well, that's the least of our concern. Our mission here is to retrieve that Yang Stone, which is supposed to be somewhere in that orphanage. We can't return to the Chief without it, so we'll have to find some other method of getting it. Apparently sending eighteen soldiers to storm the place isn't enough."

One of the croc soldiers blurted a suggestion. "Maybe if we sent a greater number…?" Reproving glares from everyone else shot his way, as if to tell him that he had spoken out of turn. He sheepishly murmured a rueful apology.

"Perhaps there might be a better method of obtaining the Yang Stone through other means other than through greater numbers or any other means of brute force," said the leopard Commander, as she returned her attention to Jing Lì.

The hulking ox snorted in near skeptical scorn. "Oh, really? Like what?"

"Instead of sending soldiers to storm the area in such our usual assertive, brutish manner, perhaps we could send troops to infiltrate the orphanage and retrieve the Yang Stone by means of stealth."

"Will you look around you?" asked Jing Lì as he gestured a hoof to the remaining soldiers brought back by the leopard Commander. "These soldiers are trained to be headlong-charging warriors, not sneaky spies. Who are going to find to do that kind of job?"

"Actually," replied the leopard, "not all of us are just headlong charging fighters." She placed a paw on her chest to gesture to herself, and then gestured another paw to the other leopards. "If you're looking for soldiers who know a thing or two about stealth, look no further."

Jing Lì nodded in consideration. "All right, any more requirements for your plan?"

"All I need," said the leopard Commander, "are a few more leopard troops, perhaps a few snakes and monitor lizards even, some black silks, and some time to bide."

"Time to bide?"

"Of course. The safest time for our troops to infiltrate the orphanage is when the people inside have settled down and don't expect another infiltration. Nighttime would be the appropriate time, that's when everyone's guard is at its lowest, because that is when they're all asleep."

Jing Lì stamped a foothoof as he straightened himself to his fullest height. He was clearly appalled by the clouded leopard's strategy. "You mean we have to wait until dark to get that Yang Stone?"

"It'll be worth it once the Yang Stone is within our grasp," said the leopard Commander, smiling confidently. "I assure you."

* * *

**It seems there ****_is_**** more to them than we first thought. But who is this 'Chief'? What does he/she want with the Yang Stone? What happened to the other tigers, and what did the crocodiles have to do with it? Is Tigress involved in this mysterious scheme in some strange way that not even she knows? Stay tuned and find out.**


	6. Revelations, and More Bandits

**Po and the rest of the Five are soon learn more about Tigress' curious experience, but just when it seems like they've finished with those no-good thieves, they're soon to find that there's more to deal with.**

* * *

Tigress began surfacing to wakefulness as a gentle hissing sound filled her ears. Her eyes flickered open, and the first thing to greet them was the sight of the little joey sleeping cradled in her strong but gentle, striped arms. She looked around to see where the hissing had come from, pressing the young wallaby close to her body protectively, but before long she espied a familiar, pearly green serpent slowly slithering up to the small, damaged cot—it was Viper.

Viper halted and coiled up just a foot away from the cot, smiling sweetly up at the athletic tiger. "Bonding with the children, Master Tigress?" she asked, remembering the time she saw Tigress feeding a young piglet at Mr. Ping's Noodle Shop last winter.

Tigress returned a faint smile. She knew she needn't hide her sentimental side from friends like Viper. She could easily share things like these with Viper, as something between girls, even though Tigress never really was so feminine in behavior herself. She remembered that it wasn't always like that, though—before Po came along and became the Dragon Warrior, Tigress used to be very socially distant to her comrades, rarely making any social interactions with them. Any time that the rest of the Five would spend conversing amongst themselves on casual, trivial matters, Tigress would spend in the Training Hall or the ironwood copse. Perhaps she had grown a little emotionally closer to her comrades since the night they showed her their strong loyalty by accompanying her on her quest to face Tai Lung. Ever since she began warming up to Po, Tigress became increasingly open to her friends (and yes, that includes Po), more social, friendlier, warmer, but until their mission to Gongmen City, her friends were yet to know of her true self. It wasn't until she hugged Po and revealed the compassionate side of her that even the comrades who worked with her years longer than Po had never knew of before that she had finally bursted right out of her hardcore shell. Since then, things between her, Po and the Five weren't the same—but it was in a positive way. Through all those years back when she was but a young cub, she was building a shield of years worth of callous, not only on her palms, but around her heart; since Po, it began to chip, but since the revelation on Po's desperation to learn of his past, it shattered—the thick shield of emotional callous, after all those years of building, shattered. Tigress truly had come a long way from that troublesome cub, and she had her Master and a panda named Po to guide her along the way.

"It's a long story," Tigress replied in a hushed voice, minding the little wallaby still sleeping in her arms. She carefully laid him down by the cot's pillow and picked up the Yang-like medallion, holding it up for Viper to see. "It was something about this. Apparently it has something to do with that sudden trance I had in the middle of that skirmish with those bandits."

Viper chanced to slither a bit closer as she gazed at the curious medallion in puzzlement. "How is that so, and what is it?"

"It's what those bandits were after," Tigress answered, "One of them called it a Yang Stone, so that must be what it is."

"Yang Stone? Oh, I remember hearing one of those bandits screaming that. Huh, so that's what he was screaming about."

Tigress nodded as she gestured to the sleeping marsupial. "Qiáng Jiǎo here introduced me to this Yang Stone. I'll explain it all, along with that trance thing later." She gently placed the tiger doll in the joey's arms and gingerly stroked his head twice with a calloused finger before standing up off the cot, stretching her powerful arms until a muffled pop issued from her elbow joints as they readjusted. "In the meantime, let's continue with our business with those captured bandits and get them off to Jìng-Suǒ Prison." Jìng-Suǒ Prison was the Valley of Peace's local prison, built to house any bandits that terrorized the village within. (**A/N**: Jìng-Suǒ mean Stout Lock)

Po, sans warning, popped in through the doorway, an amusingly goofy yet well-meaning smile planted on his black-and-white features. "Don't worry, we've already got all the bandits tied up and ready to ship off to the prison."

Tigress slapped a paw to her elaborately striped forehead, causing it to smart from the impact of her heavily calloused palm. "While you were all busy tying up those bandits, here I was sitting on this bed, dozing. Idiot! I've never fallen asleep while there was work to be done. Those bandits could've gotten free and break out a clash with you, and I'd be far off in dreamland."

Po placed a comforting paw on his feline friend's shoulder. "Tigress, don't be so hard on yourself. You deserve a little rest after a scrap with the bandits."

"Po, we had them subdued, but the job wasn't done there," Tigress retorted firmly. "It's not like a warrior to be at leisure at a time like that, and it's certainly not like me."

"Tigress, it's okay, seriously. We had everything handled. Besides, if anything were to happen, you're not a heavy sleeper, not like me—you'd be up and ready at the first moment trouble starts brewing."

A reassured smile grew on Tigress' thin, black lips. "You do have a point there, Dragon Warrior."

Wrapping a hefty, black arm around the tiger's shoulder, Po led her out of the room. "C'mon, let's go move those thieves out."

Tigress returned the gesture, wrapping a striped arm around her panda pal's shoulder. "Indeed—let's."

Viper slithered behind, hissing gleefully at the sight of the two friends walking together.

* * *

In a short time, Po and the Five had the captured bandits herded out of the orphanage. The bandits went quietly and peacefully without any resistance, for they were far too weak and injured to hold a defiance, let alone fight any further, and they no longer held the spirit to do so. The more able-bodied members of the Five—such as Monkey, Po and Tigress—had to carry or support the bandits who were too injured to walk on their own or simply lacked the consciousness to do it. Tigress kept the Yang-like medallion stowed away in her vest, lest the sight of it were to spark anything in the captured bandits who sought it so desperately, defeated and dispirited as they seemed for the time being. She also tried hard to avert from the bandits' shoulder plates, for they held the same symbol she had seen in the croc she had dueled, and she was trying to avoid falling into another trance. It had become apparent to her that these uniform symbols were a form of identification, to indicate what sort of bandit gang each individual was associated with.

They were led to huge mountain near Jade Mountain, and after an arduous climb that felt like nearly an eternity to the bandits, they finally arrived at the prison. The entrance was guarded by four hefty-looking rams armed with monk's spades and guandao spears. Instantly recognizing the Startling Six, they parted away from the entrance, the nearest two opening the doors to grant the warrior sextet passage.

* * *

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," muttered the warden of Jìng-Suǒ, a hefty-looking boar, as he shook his maned head at the shamefaced bandits. "Raiding an innocent orphanage. What have you lot got to say for yourselves?"

The eyes of the bandits shifted to either the walls, the ceiling or the floor, as though seeking inspiration. Finally, the moment of reticence was broken as they all shrugged and answered in unison: "Yang Stone."

The boar warden tilted his head, blinking bemusedly at the bandits. "Well, whatever that is, I think I know a few nice cells with your names on 'em." Looking to the six warriors, he pressed a fisted hoof into his palm in salute. "Masters."

The Startling Six returned the salute before they made their departure of Jìng-Suǒ Prison, leaving the warden to herd the bandits to their cells.

* * *

The six warriors returned to Jade Palace, stopping in the Palace Arena and gathering around the ornate circle in the middle of the arena floor as Tigress unfolded the explanation to the baffling things that had befallen upon her back at Bao Gu Orphanage.

"When that croc charged me," Tigress began, "and I saw that symbol on his armor, all the sudden I started having these strange visions. That's why I fell into that trance there."

This was already stating to sound strikingly familiar to Po; he remembered the first time he battled the Commander of Lord Shen's army of wolves, how he fell into a trance as visions assailed his mind upon seeing the symbol on his opponent's armor. He chanced a question. "What did you see?"

With a bit of hesitancy, Tigress related all she had seen. "First, I saw the hands of a small cub reaching up for this tigress, I think she might've been the cub's mother; she was looking down at the cub, with fear in her eyes, before she turned around and ran off."

Déjà vu instantly struck Po—this was almost exactly like what he had experienced. What if the same thing was starting to happen to Tigress?

Tigress continued. "Then, I saw this." She into the neck of her vest and pulled out the Yang-like medallion. All eyes were riveted in hypnotic fascination and awe at the curious object.

"What is that?" asked Crane.

"It looks like a Yin-Yang, but without the Yin," said Monkey.

"Yeah, that's the Yang Stone that croc was shouting about before I had to kick him out cold, I think," said Po. "Isn't that the thingy that the little kangaroo kid showed you, Tigress?"

"His name was Qiáng Jiǎo," Tigress answered, "and he was a wallaby. And yes, this is the medallion he showed me. But before I go into further detail on this, let me tell you about the last thing I saw in my vision—I saw another tigress, and she looked just like me…"

This statement struck Po like the hammer of Shen's wolf General. The thought of another Tigress (as in a carbon copy of the Tigress he knew, not just as in another female of her species) somewhere in China.

"But she had white fur," Tigress continued, "and a blue vest. There was a cobra with her, too. It hissed at me, showing its fangs; they were sharp and silver. That's about all, before Viper here dealt with that croc. As for this thing,"—she gestured to the Yang-like medallion—"this is what those bandits were after, and, as you all may know by now, it's apparently called the Yang Stone. It had been stowed away in a doll I had when I ended up in Bao Gu Orphanage – it was years after I left that place that Qiáng Jiǎo found it. Why it was stowed away in that doll, I don't know, but there must've been a reason. I have even less of a clue what exactly this Yang Stone is, where it came from, whom it belonged to, or what it's for, but it must be of great importance or value if those bandits were so determined to get their hands on it."

"Master Shifu might know about it," said Crane. "We should show this to him."

"Indeed," a familiar, elderly voice said from behind the listeners. The startled bunch, caught off guard, instantly pivoted around to see what was behind them, striking battle-ready posses as they did, only to find that the culprit was ironically their Master, the elderly Red Panda Master Shifu. Relieved yet befuddled, the six warriors saluted him.

"Uh, Master Shifu," Po faltered as he rose back up. "H-How long have you been standing there?"

"There are more urgent matters, panda," Shifu replied. "I have seen a large flock of crows and falcons as I was meditating at the top of the Palace."

Po blinked indifferently. "Okay, so you saw a few birds. What's the problem?"

"Po, they are storming your father's noodle shop. I do not like the looks of it—I fear they may have other business than to stop for lunch."

"What, you mean like more bandits? Wait a sec… The Noodle Shop?" Po immediately came alert as a sudden realization struck him. "Dad! I gotta run!" The panda quickly made a break for the main entrance gate of the Palace Arena, bursting through the gate's doors and sped down the great staircase that led down Jade Mountain's height like a great black-and-white comet (mostly white from the new robes he was wearing), at a speed remarkable for one his size.

Tigress hastily pulled the Yang medallion off her neck and handed it to Crane before she took off after Po—he wasn't going to face combat without her by his side. Thus, the two warriors departed Jade Palace, leaving the rest of the Five to explain to Shifu as much as they could on the Yang Stone.

* * *

Shifu's predictions were correct—the crows and falcons approaching Golden Harvest Noodle Restaurant brought nothing but troublesome business of thievery. Falcons raided the kitchen for supplies, whilst the crows plundered the money collected from paying customers. Terrorized customers hid beneath their tables as some of the bird bandits broke their fast on the customers' deserted noodle soups.

One of the crows dipped a plump Gongmen radish into the broth of a noodle soup he was dining on. He was just about to chance a bite on it, when an unfamiliar cry rose above the raucous of squawking and cawing, causing the din to quickly die down and all plundering to come to an abrupt halt as the birds rose their heads to hear where the cry was coming from. It was reaching a crescendo and clearly heading their way.

"Kung Fuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

What first appeared to be a gigantic sentient Yin-Yang to the bird bandits rolled in through the archway entrance of the noodle shop, revealing itself to be a rather heroic-looking panda. No sooner had this occurred than an athletic tiger soared _over_ the archway, landing right beside her ursine comrade.

Po rounded off the feathered fiends—there were nine crows and nine falcons. He nodded to Tigress. "I'll get the crows, you get the falcons."

Tigress returned a nod. "Right."

"All right, let's go!" And in that instant, the panda and tiger threw themselves upon the bird bandits. The birds began tossing the noodle bowls at the two warriors, but they caught the bowls with stunning accuracy, throwing them back onto the tables without spilling a single noodle.

The birds darted into the two warriors, only to find themselves laid flat as they met the mercy of their fists. Po bowled crows over and bounced them off his great midriff, whilst Tigress sent falcons darting far over the very village itself with stunningly powerful punches and kicks, and even bouncing them off her bohrium biceps, nickel knuckles and platinum palms, leaving the raptors with a powerful pang that would last weeks – to name an example, one falcon came to discover the fullest extent of the power of the thewy pantherine's right bicep, and in the process was sent rocketing sky-high, destined to become the Haley's Comet of Pluto.

Po fought his way through the ranks of black birds to the shop's kitchen, where he was sure to find Mr. Ping, his father—his top concern was to see that these bird bandits hadn't harm the poor goose. He found the old goose with his back against a corner, armed with a wooden ladle and a wok as he tried to fend off a crow and falcon that were approaching him menacingly.

"Hey, bird bandits!" the panda cried out, redirecting the attention of the threatening duo to him. "Unless you want to end up as pillow stuffings, I suggest you back away from my dad."

"_Your_ dad?" asked the crow in a harsh, squawky voice as he glanced at the old goose and back at the panda. He gave a cawing cackle. "Yeah, I can see the resemblance." (**A/N**: If you've played the KFP video game, this quote will sound familiar)

Po was already starting to loose patience with these bullying birds. He cracked his knuckles as he asked, "Well, what's it gonna be? You gonna storm on out of here, or are ya ready to feel the thunder? 'Cause you're lookin' at a typhoon of Kung Fu justice!" He then struck a fighting pose, the right arm coiled back with the paw balled into a fist, the other arm stretched out with the paw held open wide. "_Wha-tang!_"

The crow turned to the falcon, as though seeking counsel on what they should do. The falcon merely craned his neck forward and let out an ear-piercing shriek, and at that instant, the two birds lunged at the warrior bear, but the fight was over just as soon as it had commenced.

The falcon had his legs shot out, talons ready to sink into his opponent's hide, but Po was too quick – with lightning reflexes, he grabbed the raptor by his ankles and flung him into the opposite wall, and cooking utensils hung there were knocked off as the bird hit the wall, one of them (a wok) landing on the falcon's head. Po then sent a powerful punch into the midriff of the crow, sending him flying (not through will of his own) out the kitchen and into the callous-armored palm of Tigress, which had been held invitingly open and facing the direction of the incoming corvid, as though expecting his arrival. The crow bounced off the burly feline's palm like a slingstone off a metal breastplate and was sent soaring clear over the Valley of Peace.

The tiger whirled around to face a falcon that came swooping in towards her, legs and talons outstretched, exposing his underside. She could see that the raptor had a green sash around his waist, fastened with a buckle that bore the same symbol as the one she had seen on the armor of the croc bandit she dueled back in Bao Gu Orphanage; the same symbol that sent her into that trance as strange visions assailed her brain—that moment was now repeating itself. She saw the fleeing tiger mother, the Yang-like medallion, the white tiger cub and the silver-fanged cobra.

"Tigress!" The sound of Po's voice snapped Tigress back into reality. She saw another falcon (the one Po had flung into a wall to save his father) darting in from the kitchen behind her, colliding with the falcon swooping in to attack her, thus sending both birds crashing into a table. Any of the bird bandits who weren't too badly beaten took to their wings and fled the restaurant—they did not wish to stick around and tango with these two warriors.

Po and Mr. Ping hurried up to Tigress' side, their eyes gleaming with concern. "Tigress, what happened?" the panda asked.

Tigress hardly seemed to even notice that her ursine comrade was standing beside her, for she simply strode towards the table where the two falcons had crashed, neither bothering to answer the panda's question nor even turn to look at him – her attention was much too fixed to the two knocked-out birds. She stood over them, gazing down at their limp, unconscious bodies, as she hypnotically studied their sashes.

Po hurried to Tigress' side again, his concern increased by his feline friends' lack of response. He placed a paw on her shoulder and shook her lightly. "Tigress, what's wrong?"

Tigress slowly turned her head to face Po, her orange eyes bleak and grim. "Po, do you remember when I told you about the symbol on the crocodile I battled back in Bao Gu Orphanage, the one that made me see all those visions?"

"Y-Yeah," Po answered, somewhat puzzled by Tigress' enquiry. "W-What about it?"

Tigress returned her gaze to the fallen falcons, pointing a paw at one who was laying so that his underside faced the sky. "Those birds have the same symbol."

* * *

**Looks like those bird bandits are in league with those Bao Gu bandits. Clearly, our heroes now know that there are more bandits of the same gang than they first thought, but are there even more of them out there? What are these bandits ****_really_**** up to? Find out in our next chapter. And please tell me what you thought about that "Haley's Comet of Pluto" bit.**


	7. Enter the Lady

**You've all been wondering who those bandits were, where they came from and what they're really up to with this Yang Stone. Now, we're finally going to dive into that and see what's really going on.**

* * *

The bandits that had escaped Bao Gu Orphanage lounged within the depths of the gingko copse in which they took refuge and came across the rest of their compatriots, as though they had been awaiting something—and, indeed, they were.

Jing Lì drummed a hoof on the trunk of a gingko tree impatiently as he nibbled on a leaf, cocking his head upward at the open patches in the gingko canopy, as though expecting something to appear from any of them. He gave an exasperated sigh. "How long could it be taking those scouts to scavenge for supplies? They should be here by now."

As though to grant his wish, he saw some crows and falcons swooping in through the canopy openings before the great bovid, scantly filled satchels dangling from their beaks. There were only four crows and three falcons, and all seven of them were a pitiful sight, bruised and some missing patches of their plumage.

"Let me guess," said Jing Lì. "You lost some of your comrades to some Kung Fu Masters."

The birds all nodded vigorously, and the biggest of the crows spoke for them all. "It was a panda and a tiger. They fought like demons, especially the tiger; she sent falcons flying hither and thither, left and right, like arrows. We barely escaped with our lives."

Jing Lì blinked inquisitively at the crow. "A panda and a tiger? Huh, so there's another sighting on that."

It was the crow's turn to blink in bewilderment. "Another sighting, sir?"

Jing Lì gestured to the injured crocodiles, wolves and clouded leopards. "These troops here claimed to have been attacked by a panda and tiger when they storming the orphanage; they also said there was a snake, a monkey, a crane and a mantis. A panda and a tiger, I thought they left their marbles back at that orphanage, but now I'm starting to get a little iffy here. So, I'm guessing you lot didn't have much success at scavenging for supplies."

The crow shook his head sadly. "We were in such great haste to get away from those two berserkers—we could only bring along what was close at talon." He gave a nod to the rest of the birds, gesturing them to put down the satchels. They did as bade, and each bag revealed very little food or money.

"So, the same warriors attacked somewhere else in this stinkin' crater," murmured one of the crocodiles. "Huh, seems there's nowhere safe to raid here. We'll never get enough to eat, let alone get that confounded Yang Stone. _Ghee-yaow!_" He leapt to his feet and yelped in pain as one of the leopards pinched his nostrils with her sharp claws.

The leopard glared icily at the crocodile. "Of course we will, scales for brains! Don't you remember our Commander's plan?"

The croc gingerly rubbed his smarting nose as he leered indignantly at the perpetrator. "Oh, like that's gonna make any difference. What if those five warriors have got nocturnal friends, like an owl, or a bat, or something?" He suddenly found a wolf's guandao pointed at his throat.

"It's better than nothing," hissed the owner of the spear. "Sitting around, twiddling our thumbs isn't gonna get us any closer to that Yang Stone. You're new to this kinda thing, aren't you? I've served in a war, and I've been through worse."

The croc gently pushed the spear away from him. "Sheesh, _you've_ got a temper."

The wolf stowed away his guandao huffily. "And you've got little morale. Oomph!" The Commander of the clouded leopards had cuffed the wolf sharply around the ears. He whirled around indignantly on the leopard. "Hey! You can't do that to me! You command the leopards, not the wolves!"

"Well, your original wolf Commander isn't here to give you order," the leopard Commander retorted. She then turned her attention to the sloppily lounging crocs. "And neither is the Commander for you scale bags. _I'm_ the only one in this squadron left to give orders to what's left of you lot."

"At least until I find another croc and wolf fit enough to be appointed as the new Commanders for the crocs and wolves," said Jing Lì. "But in the meantime, yes, you lot will taking orders from Xiǎn Mei. Now, she and I don't want to hear any more complaints." He whipped out a long, golden chain that ended with a large, iron ball—it was something he would use to frighten the subordinates into obedience, and it was very affective, for they all instinctively ducked as the big ox twirled the great liúxīng chuí above his head. After an agonizingly long, tense moment of terror, the soldiers flinched as the metal ball finally crashed into the trunk of a tree with a sickening crunch, embedding itself into the wood.

"Is that understood?" Jing Lì asked as he yanked the ball of his meteor hammer out of the tree's trunk. The soldiers all nodded with terrified vigor. The great bovid grinned in satisfaction as he stowed away the mace-and-chain-like hammer. "Good." He then leaned back against a tree, arms folded, as he contemplated over how he would repair the depleted squadron—what other soldiers under his command would be fit for this squad? Which croc and which wolf would be a suitable Commander for the others? What was he to do before Xiǎn Mei was to put her plan into action?

* * *

Far past the gingko copse that housed the contingent of supposed bandits, and far beyond the very Valley that held said copse within, in the nearly barren, rocky outcrops of the Dài Bào at the southwestern border of the Maqu County of the Gannan Prefecture of the Gansu Province lay a village enclosed by a boarding wall. It was teeming with geese, ducks, rabbits, sheep, goats and even the odd chicken and antelope, along with ruffian crocodiles, clouded leopards, wolves, monitor lizards, mountain cats, foxes, snakes of many varieties, lynxes, jackals, oxen, rhinoceri and gorillas – these ruffians were clad in armor emblazoned with the symbol had seen on the bandits that raided Bao Gu Orphanage and Golden Harvest Noodle Restaurant (**A/N**: That's the more precise name of Mr. Ping's noodle shop), and they constantly tormented and bullied the more peaceable creature, who possessed little role in the village other than to serve the rufian soldiers. Servent and soldier alike were all subjects to the Lady of Dài Bào, who dwelt within its capital, Mount Mián Xiǎn, an extinct volcano that once served as a stronghold to house a sole prisoner.

This prisoner was said to be one of the most dangerous criminals China had ever seen, in the same league as Tai Lung. However, when a great army of raiders arrived at Dài Bào and exterminated the prison guards in the battle that ensued, this prisoner declared herself as ruler of Dài Bào, the raiders became her subjects and the soldiers of her grand army, and her prison was converted into her royal palace. Built atop the great volcano after its conquest was a large, dark-purple, 10-story tower with arcing roofs fringed with crimson, and mounted at its very rooftop was a huge flag emblazoned with the design of a blue-and-red yin-yang surrounded by flames of the same color; the symbol worn by the soldiers of the Lady—this was Fort Tóng Fùmiè. Falcons, crows, vultures and eagles sat perched upon the pagoda roofs of the fortress, vigilantly scanning their eyes about the ground below Mount Mián Xiǎn.

One crow was soaring his way towards Fort Tóng Fùmiè, for he bore tidings to share with the Lady within. The birds perching on the palace roofs, who instantly recognized the approaching bird as one of their own, allowed him entrance. He lighted on the gilded rail of a balcony of the building's top level, where the throne room of the Lady of Dài Bào was. Reluctantly, he padded his way into the throne room – as extravagantly ornate and dazzlingly decorated as it was, the presence of Fort Tóng Fùmiè's most prominent occupant emanated an uncannily ominous aura into the throne room.

"Come closer," hissed a feminine yet somewhat gruff voice that sent an icy chill down the crow's spine. The falcon gulped, then continued to advance in painful hesitancy towards the throne of the Dài Bào ruler. He kept his eyes were directed to the floor, more content on studying the polished, green tiles than looking up at the most feared ruler of the province, yet he kept the foot of the throne within his peripheral vision, lest he veered into the wrong direction.

"Closer," said the Lady of Dài Bào, as the falcon was now halfway from the throne. The crow obeyed, and continued a few steps closer. The Dài Bào ruler had to repeat herself a few times, until the falcon was but five steps away from the throne.

A white, black-striped tail pressed under the bird's chin, lifting his head up so that he was forced to look up at the face of the Lady of Dài Bào—she was a tigress of white fur, with eyes of a burning light blue, donning a sapphire vest with golden trim and black silk pants. She was Lady Tai-Huang Mei. Peeking sinuously from behind the white tigress' shoulder was a King Cobra who wore a turban surmounted with an emerald, and a bindi on his forehead modified to resemble a yin-yang—he was Nāgá, counselor of Lady Tai-Huang Mei.

"What is your business here, bird? What have you to report?" she asked.

The crow strained his hardest to avert his gaze as he stammered his report. "It is done, Milady; Wan Wu has been freed—my flock is leading her here as we speak."

Tai-Huang Mei touched her hefty paws together, a thin smile of satisfaction growing on her thin, black lips. "Excellent. All that's left is their leader, Su Wu, and I shall have all three of the Wu Sisters. Assemble a new flock, crow—soon you shall be setting forth to find Su."

Nāgá, in response, gave a soft hiss in contentment. _Excellent._

* * *

**There's definitely more behind these supposed bandits than we first assumed. And we also now know who this "Chief" or "Lady" is, but what is she plotting in all this? Clearly the infamous Wu Sisters are involved, but how so? Find out in the chapters to come.**

* * *

**A/N:**

**Liúxīng chuí (Pronounced: Leo Shing Choi) = Meteor Hammer**

**Xiǎn Mei (Pronounced: Shen May) = Dangerous Beauty**

**Dài Bào (Pronounced: Die Bow) = Perilous Leopard**

**Mián Xiǎn (Pronounced: Mee-yen Shen) = Hibernating Danger**

**Tóng Fùmiè (Pronounced: Tong Foo-Meeyeh) = Red Destruction**

**Tai-Huang Mei (Pronounced: Tie Hoo-ong May) = Great [female]Phoenix Beauty**

**Nāgá = Sanskrit for Serpent/Snake/Cobra (Yes, our character, ****Nāgá, is Hindu-Chinese. And I'm pretty sure Lord Shen's ancestors were Hindu-Chinese, considering that peacocks are native to India, unless they were Green Peacocks.)**


	8. Truth of the Yang Stone

Po and Tigress stood over the two fallen falcons, gawking dumbly at the symbol the bird bandits bore—the flame-encircled yin-yang.

"So, that's the symbol thingy you saw on that croc bandit, huh?" Po asked.

Tigress merely nodded grimly for answer, her eyes still riveted on the two unconscious bird bandits, yet trying not to focus too strongly on the symbols on their sashes, lest she fall into another trance. "They must be involved with bandits we dealt with back at the orphanage," she said after a tense moment of silence.

Mr. Ping was about to enquire Po on what was wrong with Tigress, when the athletic feline suddenly went rigid, as though there was something she was simply not going to put off for much longer. "We have to ask them what they're involved in, what all this Yang Stone business is about," she said.

"Uh, I'm not sure if we'll be able to do that," said Po." "Y'know, 'coz these guys are all, like, KO'd and stuff."

Tigress gave Po a sideways glance through half-hooded eyes. "I mean, when they come to."

"Oh, right…heh heh." Po turned red underneath the white fur of his face as he chuckled sheepishly in embarrassment.

Mr. Ping shuffled a webbed foot awkwardly as he tapped a wing to Po's arm. "Eh, I am the last goose in this Valley to go sticking his beak into the business of others, but what is your tiger friend talking about with all this Yang Stone?"

"It's, uh, kind of a long story, Dad," Po replied. "We should probably get all these crows gathered up first, then we'll explain everything, or at least everything of what we know about what's goin' on. That is…"—he turned to Tigress—"…if it's okay with you."

"He's your father, Po," said Tigress. "I don't see why he shouldn't. He might as well. Come on. let's get to gathering up those birds."

Gathering up the bird bandits that still remained in the noodle shop was but the work of a moment, and Mr. Ping was able to whip up some long, tough, rope-like noodles to keep the captive bandits bound.

Po, his goose father, and Tigress assembled in Po's room, where they would discuss the conundrum Tigress was facing. As they did, Tigress espied Po's action figures on the windowsill – there was the Five and Po (these of which she had been introduced to by Mr. Ping right before they set off to Gongmen City), as well as a few new others. Shifu, Oogway, Tai Lung, Chef Wo Hop, Lord Shen, the Soothsayer, Masters Thundering Rhino, Croc and Storming Ox, and even the Wu Sisters—Tigress assumed that Po got the idea of making action figures of the Wu Sisters after that little escapade to the Masters' Council Exhibit, where he told them the story of how the three fighters defeated the three villainous leopards.

Tigress picked up the figurine of herself, turning it around in her paw as she thoroughly examined it. "Y'know, Po, I've just noticed that you've really articulated the design of these figurines, especially this one."

Po shuffled his feet awkwardly, self-conscious and embarrassed to a point of speechlessness. That's when Mr. Ping spoke out. "Oh, careful, you might get scratches on it—I don't think Po would want that." He winked up at his panda son.

Po twiddled his thumbs awkwardly as he tried to think up a distraction. "Yeah, uh…besides, we really should get to discussing the dilemma with the weird symbols, the trance, the Yang Stone, and all that. I mean, Dad's really anxious to hear about it. Right, Dad?"

"Er, yes! Yes, indeed," replied the goose.

Tigress nodded understandingly as she placed the figurine of herself back in it's place. "You're right. We should get to it." Thusly, the three sat down, and Tigress began relating everything about her conundrum, from the battle with the bandits in Bao Gu Orphanage, the curious visions she had experience, to the discovery of the Yang Stone, to the more recent battle with the bird bandits.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at Jade Palace, Crane had just finished his explanation to Shifu on the same matters.

Shifu scratched his whiskers pensively as he thought over Crane's words. A tense air presided over the remaining four of the Five as they awaited Shifu's response. After a lengthy, nerve-racking wait, he finally spoke. "Hmm… This Yang Stone sounds familiar."

Everyone else drew in their breath slightly as a glimmer of hope began to shine in their hearts—perhaps there might be some hope on figuring out what this Yang Stone is. The glimmer grew as the old red panda said, "I think I have read of it somewhere. Come, I think I know where."

He led the four warriors to the Sacred Hall of Warriors, past the many turquoise columns with green dragon designs, to the Moon Pool, to the shelves of the Thousand Scrolls (although, despite its name, it was not 1,000 scrolls, but 22,388—it was Thousand Scrolls because it sounded more poetically elegant), the single greatest collection of recorded Kung Fu techniques and archives in all of China.

The jaws of the four warriors simply went limp (especially Crane's)—if what Shifu read about the Yang Stone was in a scroll amongst this collection, however were they to find it out of the other 22,387? The answer: not very easily. Master Shifu seemed to have proven this wrong, however. He held up the staff that had once been wielded by Grandmaster Oogway, waving it left and right amidst the scroll's whose numbers rivaled that of the stars visible in the night sky, as though it were to point to the scroll he was seeking, like a compass needle pointing North. Finally, it seemed to have done so, pointing to a scroll perched at the very top of a pile on the eighth shelf (the highest shelf) of the third shelf column to the left.

Everyone else's jaw dropped harder. _Dang,_ they all thought. _So close, and yet so far._

Crane sighed. "I guess I'm going to have to fly up there and get it." He was about to chance a step, when Shifu held out a paw to halt him.

"No," said the old red panda. "There is no need." He lowered his paw, then raised it at the towering shelves. He then suddenly clenched his paw, and as if by some strange force caused by this gesture, the selected scroll capsule slid forth and fell, right into Shifu's paw.

Crane thought his jaw was going to fall off.

Shifu opened the capsule and extricated the scroll within, unfurling it and skimming through the contents. He nodded. "Ah, yes, this is the one."

The glimmer of hope in everyone else's hearts was now glowing brighter. At last they might actually have an explanation to the enigma of the Yang Stone. They all leaned in close as Shifu began reading the scroll.

"It says here," he began, "that in the yore days of China, when Oogway's art of Kung Fu was new, few knew how to use this fighting art properly, thus many could easily misuse it. Some were too meek and timid to use the power of Kung Fu to its fullest extent, but those who were bold and confident enough enough to do and then some easily abused it. Because of this, civilization in China became more disorderly. Aiding the Emperor in restoring order to his country was the wisdom of Oogway and the few fighters who knew the proper use of Kung Fu. The most significant amongst these were what the Emperor deemed were the two most major clans in China—the Tiger Clan, bold and fierce; and the Panda Clan, tranquil and harmonious. The Emperor believed that these two clans were the physical embodiment of Yin and Yang. The Tigers, with their confidence and ferocity were the Yang, whilst the Pandas, with their harmonious, peaceful ways and strong beliefs against unnecessary violence, were the Yin. Together, they taught the unskilled fighters how to apply a perfect balance to the use of Kung Fu; the Tigers taught them to be confident and to never be hesitant, and the Pandas taught them to be wise with their actions when in combat, to never allow their emotions to override their senses, and to only fight when needs be. The Emperor made two medallions for the leaders of the two clans. One was made of obsidian and was carved to resemble a Yin, the other of alabaster and carved to resemble a Yang. The obsidian Yin medallion (or Yin Stone) was given to the leader of the Panda Clan, and the Yang medallion (or Yang Stone) to the leader of the Tiger Clan. These medallions were meant to symbolize how the Panda Clan and the Tiger Clan were the Yin and Yang that brought harmonious balance to China."

Shifu then furled up the scroll. "That is all it says about the Yang Stone."

"I'm going to go find Tigress and Po," said Crane as he began striding his way towards the exit. "If they're not still at the noodle shop, they're probably making their way to Jìng-Suǒ prison to deliver those crows and falcons, if they really are bandits."

Stepping out of the Palace, the skinny bird stretched out his wings and took off in search for the two famed warriors.

* * *

**Now we know the truth behind the Yang Stone, but what does Tai-Huang really want with it? And what does it have to do with Tigress. Is there still more behind this Yang Stone ****_and_**** Yin Stone? Will it also affect Po? Find out soon.**


	9. The Lady's Plot

**You've all been waiting for it, probably longer than I should've kept you waiting. Sorry about the delay—I've been busy with some other projects. But here's our ninth chapter. Finally, we'll learn what Tai-Huang's plan really is…**

* * *

Back at Dài Bào, in Fort Tóng Fùmiè, Lady Tai-Huang Mei was treading her way down the levels of her palace through the winding stairway, with Nāgá coiled around her shoulders and Wing Wu trailing behind, eager to be reunited with one of her sisters once again after so many years. The crow who had informed Tai-Huang Mei of the freeing and the arrival of Wan Wu was also by the Lady's side to reassure her on how soon Wan's arrival would be.

"How soon can I expect to see Wan by the front of my palace?" asked Tai-Huang Mei.

"Yes, crow," said Wing Wu, her golden eyes (the only part of her face that wasn't concealed in her black mask) widening in anticipation. "When can I expect to see my sister?"

"Wan Wu should be here at any moment," answered the crow. "She's probably making her way through the village as we speak, Your Highness."

Nāgá's coils tensed slightly around Tai-Huang Mei's shoulders as he hissed in contentment in the white tigress' ear. "Two of the Wu Sisters we have now, My Lady. All we need is the one called Su, and the most powerful force in all of China shall be at your fingertips—nought will be able to stop us in our goal to reclaim what has been rightfully yours since the very first moment of your birth."

Tai-Huang Mei cocked her head slightly towards Nāgá's, as though eager to hear more from him. "Tell me, Nāgá, will these three warriors truly be as powerful as you say they are?"

Nāgá drew his head back as though shocked by his Lady's question. "My Lady, why on earth would speak falsely to you?"

"I don't doubt your words, Nāgá, but do you truly believe that just three warriors can really be so powerful?"

Nāgá nodded. "If such warriors happen to be the Wu Sisters, of course – they have been said to have won a battle against the Jackal Nation."

Tai-Huang's eyes widened with interest. "A whole nation?"

"Armed with nothing but chopsticks," said Wing Wu. "You should listen to your snake, he speaks the truth. But if you really want someone who can confirm what you hear about the Wu Sisters, why not ask a Wu Sister herself? We can both assure you, My Lady, once you have all three of us, you will see just how powerful we truly are."

"Trust me, My Lady," said Nāgá "you will not regret following my counsel on recruiting the Wu Sisters."

Tai-Huang Mei nodded and hummed in consideration. When he was sure that the white tigress Lady was not looking, Nāgá turned to Wing Wu, and they both exchanged furtive nods and winks, as though there was some sort of secret arrangement kept strictly between them.

The quartet were descending to the third floor, when a wolf soldier came rushing up the stairs towards them. He halted before the Lady of Dài Bào and bowed to her respectfully. "The lookouts have reported a flock of crows leading a clouded leopardess to your fortress, Milday, but she doesn't seem to be one of our own."

Tai-Huang Mei glanced at Wing Wu, a thin smile of satisfaction curving on her lips. "That must be Wan Wu. How far is she from the fortress?"

"About a li and a half or so, Your Majesty."

The white tiger interlocked her powerful paws as she leaned in slightly. "Tell the guards to let her in. That is all, soldier."

The wolf bowed once more, before turning around to do as bade. "Yes, Your Highness!"

Tai-Huang Mei looked to the crow, her smile having grown. "She seems to be closer than you had predicted, crow." She waved a dismissive paw. "Now, be off with you; attend to your new flock."

The crow dipped his head dutifully, before taking to his wings to ascend to the higher levels of the palace. "Yes, Milady!"

* * *

Lady Tai-Huang Mei, Nāgá, and Wing Wu were now standing out side the fortress at the head of the great stairway that scaled down the height of Mount Mián Xiǎn, two ox guards flanking the trio, as they awaited the arrival of Wan Wu. At some intervals, birds would flutter down beside the waiting trio to inform them on Wan Wu progress up the stairs, until finally she appeared, flanked by two rhinoceri and four mountain cats, followed by three vipers—two Fea's Vipers and a Green Tree Viper—and in tow of the flock of crows who escorted her to Dài Bào.

The crows took to their wings and dispersed, making for the rooftops of Fort Tóng Fùmiè, when they had judged that Wan Wu was near enough to the top of the stairway. Determined to be the first to greet the sister she had not seen in years, Wing Wu eagerly stepped forward, fist in palm in salute as she bowed to Wan. Wan, in turn, saluted to Wing—having been separated from each other for years, they both had a burning urge to embrace each other, but they both knew that they had to resist these urges, for it would make them seem most undignified in front of everyone else.

"It does me such good to see you again, dear sister," said Wing.

"Likewise, Wing," replied Wan.

Lady Tai-Huang Mei stepped closer to the two Wu Sisters. "Now that we've had our little family reunion, let me introduce myself. I am Tai-Huang Mei, Lady of Dài Bào."

"And Leader of the Róulìn SteelClaw Army," Wan Wu added. "Your crows have told me about you. They have also told me that you wish to obtain all three of us for some plan of conquest."

Tai-Huang Mei gestured a paw to the entrance of her palace. "Perhaps you would like me to explain this plan a little further." With a sway of her muscular, striped arm, the white tigress Lady dismissed the rhinoceri, mountain cats and vipers.

As the three felines made their way into the building, Wing Wu whispered into Wan's ear, "Her counselor, Nāgá, has a plan, himself. After we have heard Tai-Huang's plan, I shall tell you _his_." She cocked her head, nodding to the cobra perched on Tai-Huang Mei's shoulders. He seemed to have noticed that the two Wu Sisters of speaking of him, for he looked in their direction, a sly grin slowly creeping along his features.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Valley of Peace, in the Golden Harvest Noodle Restaurant, Tigress had just finished relating her account.

Mr. Ping stroked the underside of his bill pensively. "Hmm… That's quite a mystery, Tigress. A real head-scratcher. The most I can make out of this is that those crows and falcons you and Po dealt with must be working for those thieves you fought in the orphanage, if they're wearing the same emblem as they."

Tigress nodded. "Of course they must be, except those birds seemed to only be after money and food, not the Yang Stone those bandits at the orphanage were after; but the birds were probably just scouts sent to scavenge for supplies for those bandits. Those bandits could be the key to unlocking the mystery to this Yang Stone, or at least get us sufficiently close to an explanation—if anyone would know what it is and what's so valuable about it, it's the ones after it. Unfortunately, explaining what all those visions I have mean, why I have them whenever I see the emblem on those bandits, and why that Yang Stone is in my visions is mostly likely something far beyond them."

Suddenly, a familiar call rented the air.

"_Ka-Kaw! Ka-Kaw! Kee-Kee! Kee-Kee!_"

Mr. Ping immediately sprung to his feet and took cover under Po's cot. "Oh no! The bird bandits have reinforcements!"

Po and Tigress sprung to their feet and into fighting stances as they hurried to the window, ready to deal with whatever threat was to show itself. To their relief, however, (after a brief jolt of surprise) the foe turned out to be a familiar feathered friend—Crane.

Po sighed in relief. "Oh, Crane, it's just you."

"For a moment we thought there were more of those bird bandits," Tigress added.

"Apologies if I've interrupted anything," said Crane politely, as he hovered before the window, "but I think Master Shifu's found the answers you've been looking for, Tigress. Permission to enter?"

Tigress chuckled softly. "Permission granted."

"All right. Stand back." Crane made a somersault in the air, arcing back as he darted gracefully through the window and into the room.

"It's all right, Dad," said Po reassuringly as he kneeled down to look under the cot. "It's only Crane."

Mr. Ping scuttled out from under the cot, relieved at this news. He waddled up to Crane, and the two birds shook wings. "So, Crane, what brings you here?"

"Just what I was about to asked," said Tigress, with arms folded and a brow raised. "You were saying something about Shifu finding the answers I've been looking for?"

Crane looked to Tigress, a big, joyous grin curving on the sides of his long beak. "Yes. Y'see, Master Shifu found this scroll that explains what the Yang Stone is and how it came to be. Of course, it mostly explains how the citizens of China learned how to use Kung Fu properly. I might have to explain the whole thing for it to make sense, but the story's not too long."

"No problem, Crane," said Po. "Shoot."

Thus Crane began relating the tale of the Panda Clan and Tiger Clan, their teachings on the proper use of Kung Fu, and the origin of the Yang Stone.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the throne room of Fort Tóng Fùmiè, Lady Tai-Huang Mei and the two Wu Sisters stood over table, on which was laid out a map of the Gannan Prefecture of the Gansu Province.

Tai-Huang pointed a claw at a northeastern county called Xiahe. "Here," she said, "lays a town called Měi-Hépíng. It's capital is Garnet Palace, home to the one of the most elite league of Kung Fu fighters in China; I should know, use to train alongside them, even sparred with them. One such case there was a considerable amount of effort."

"Let me guess," said Wan Wu. "You want us to take on these fighters."

"Just the bulk of them. There is one: Master Peahen. She is the best fighter amongst them, next to me of course. You leave her to me."

Wan Wu looked up at Tai-Huang with skeptical, half-hooded eyes before looking down to examine her own claws. "So, you merely need us to take out a few fighters so you can…take over the Palace, is it? If this is all there is to your plan, why do you have this large army when the plan only calls for three warriors and yourself?"

"Well, first, I didn't exactly assemble the whole army myself. My first soldiers, a great horde of reptiles, wolves, gorillas, clouded leopards and a snow leopard, said that they have heard of me, and they came to me in reverence and servility, swearing loyalty to me." She paused for a moment, as she reminisced the exulting moment where the reptiles, wolves, gorillas and leopards knelt humbly before her in the prison she had been freed her from.

_Ah, yet you know so little of how they truly came to know of you,_ said Nāgá in his thoughts.

Tai-Huang continued, "The rest were affiliated into the army sometime afterwards. Anyhow, they're mostly a governing force which I plan to use once I have seized control over the whole town of Měi-Hépíng, and they'll prove much more useful in seizing the whole county of Xiahe. Claiming Garnet is only the first step in my plan. I plan to take over the entire province of Gansu – you Wu Sisters will be my major weapon in my pursuit for conquest. Soon, the whole province shall come to acknowledge the power and might of Tai-Huang Mei as I claim what rightfully belongs to me!"

Wan Wu's eyes widened somewhat in admiration. "That does sound like a sinisterly splendid plan, Lady Tai-Huang."

"Indeed it is," replied Tai-Huang, tapping her claws together. "All I need is your leader, your eldest sister Su Wu, and the plan can come into action. I shall soon be sending by birds to locate her cell and free her, as I have done with you two."

A content grin grew on Wan's lips. "I think our sister would be more than inclined to take part in this splendid scheme of yours, but I must warn you, freeing her will be easier to say than to do. Behind that charismatic aura of hers, Su is the most dangerous amongst us, and if she's managed to escape once, her captors must have constructed a far more secured prison than the last one; you know, the one that was guarded by those scatterbrained apes who were distracted by anything. Anyhow, freeing Su Wu won't be anywhere near as easy as freeing us."

"Yes, I'm well aware of how secured her prison," replied Tai-Huang, as she slid a paw under the table. "Which is why I have this useful little tool." She slid the paw out and extended it to Wan, palm facing upward to reveal a tiny ball of grey fuzz.

Wan tilted her head left to right as she drew her face closer to the curious object, trying her hardest to figure out what to make of it. "_That_? What is it?" She reached out a claw to prod it, but before she could touch it, she leapt back and made a sound that somewhere between a gasp and a half scream. The tiny grey ball sprouted eight short, crablike legs and revealed itself to be a jumping spider. Despite its miniscule stature, it truly was a rather startling sight, with its huge, owlish eyes and squatting crablike legs.

Lest she be humiliated for be frightened by such a tiny creature, Wan quickly straightened herself into a dignified posture and coughed. "It…it just surprised, is all."

Ignoring the comment, Tai-Huang pointed a claw to the tiny arachnid seated in her large palm. "This is Suǒjiang Zhū, the Spider Locksmith. She is from an elite band of lock-picking arthropods, and she is one of the best. With her exceptional lock-picking skills and small size, she'll be able to fit into the lock and pick it from inside without being detected. She'll be the perfect tool to free Su Wu. The guards won't suspect a thing, until it's too late."

Wan tapped a finger to her chin. "That is a very clever idea, but how do you plan to get her there?"

"That's where my birds come in," said Tai-Huang, gesture her other paw to the flock of crows huddled near her throne. "They'll transport her through most of the way. When they come across the messenger, they'll plant Suǒjiang Zhū onto him—he'll carry her to Su Wu's prison from there, and he won't even notice."

Wan blinked inquisitively. "Messenger?"

Tai-Huang nodded. "Yes, Masters Croc and Storming Ox will be sending a messenger to Su's prison to request that the guards reinforce its security."

"And you know this how?"

Tai-Huang nodded to what was apparently a doorway to some chamber behind the throne, with carmine curtains in the place of a door. "Xiān-Jiàn Zhě," she called.

A thin, cracked voice, one that sounded like that of a very elderly male, sounded from behind the curtains. "What do you want, Tai-Huang?"

"We have another visitor, Xiān-Jiàn Zhě. Would you mind telling her your most recent fortune reading, the one you told me the day after Wing Wu was brought to my palace?"

A brief moment of silence followed the enquiry, then a muffled clattering could be heard. No sooner had it ceased than an old, withered-looking crane strode out from the curtains, carrying an ornate earthenware bowl between his wings, and five satchels and a lit incense stick in his beak. He strode up to the table at such a painfully slow pace, but when he judged he was close enough, he placed the bowl on the floor and lifted a foot to extract the five satchels from his beak, placing them on the floor beside the bowl and opening them. From each of them, he took out a talonful of sand of the colors red, yellow, blue, white and black and poured it into the bowl. He then took the incense stick and tapped the smoking end of it to the sand, and a small explosion of multicolored sand shot upward.

Tai-Huang, Nāgá and the two Wu Sisters watched as the old crane waved his wings to shift the colorful clouds of now floating sand until they formed the shapes he desired. The clouds of sand seemed to become living entities, as they took the shape and moved as such things. They first took the form of an old goat cladded in brilliantly patterned, multicolored Tibetan robes, approaching a crocodile and a large, blue ox.

"The old goat Soothsayer, Āmā," began Xiān-Jiàn Zhě, "will receive a vision that will tell her that two of the Wu Sisters have been freed." He glanced at the two leopards, then returned his attention to the sand cloud. "It will also warn her that Su Wu will be freed. She will return to Gongmen City to bring this warning to the Masters' Council." As he waved his wings, the sand clouds took the form of Croc and Storming Ox standing before a small bat, pointing forward as though instructing the bat to go somewhere. The bat took to its wings and began flying in the direction the two Masters pointed. "In fear of the return of the third party of their bygone enemies, they will send a messenger to the prison of Su Wu to prevent any chance of her escape by requesting the guards to increase their security."

Tai-Huang shook her head, a sardonic grin playing on her features. "Ah, but the one they will use to prevent the freedom of Su will be but our ticket. My crows will track him down, and in the pretense of an attack, the one carrying Suǒjiang Zhū will plant her onto the bat. As I have said before, the messenger will carry her into Su's prison, and no one will notice. And if you're wondering how exactly my crows are going to find a bat in such a vast sky, well, let's just say they'll be having a bit of help from the one who knows of what is to be." She gestured her paw to the old crane Seer, who sighed in resignation.

Wan exchanged a glance with her sister, and then returned her gaze to Lady Tai-Huang Mei, her eyes now shining with utter admiration. "That truly is quite a resourceful plan, My Lady. Surely, even our sister, Su, would be impressed."

"I'm sure she would," replied Tai-Huang. "Now that we've discussed the plan, you must be awfully weary after your travels here." She turned to a burly looking croc guard holding a guandao spear. "Escort our two guests to their room, and see to it that refreshments are brought to them."

The croc gave single nod, and then led the two Wu Sisters out of the throne room. He led them down the stairs to the floor below, where their guest room was – somewhere along the way, Wan Wu lightly nudged her sister on the shoulder.

"I've heard Tai-Huang's plan, when will I hear Nāgá's?" she asked.

"Patience, dear sister," said Wing. "Once we're alone in our room, I will tell you everything." Had there not been black wrappings concealing most of Wing's features (minus her eyes), Wan would have noticed a sly, sinister grin began creeping on her sister's lips. A grin bearing an uncannily striking resemblance to Nāgá's.

Despite this brief conversation between the Wu Sisters having been whispered, nothing evaded the croc escort's ears. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

* * *

**What could Nāgá and the two Wu Sisters be planning? Will the croc escort find out? Why haven't we learned yet what Tai-Huang wants with the Yang Stone? Stay tuned and see what unfolds later…**

* * *

**A/N 1: **

**Róulìn (Pronounced: Row-Lin) = to ravage ****/** to devastate

**Měi-Hépíng (Pronounced: May Huh-Ping) = Beautiful Peace**

**Suǒjiang Zhū (Pronounced: ) = Locksmith Spider**

**Xiān-Jiàn Zhě (Pronounced: Shin Jin Juh ) = Derived from Xiānjiànzhě, meaning, "Seer"**

**Āmā (Pronounced: Ah-Ma) = Nurse / Mother**

* * *

**A/N 2:**

**Yes, the Soothsayer's real name is Āmā—it is revealed in the Art Gallery of the KFP 2 DVD.**


	10. Councils of Problems

"Well," said Tigress, "now we know what this Yang Stone is and where it came from. But if it's supposed to belong to the leader of the Tiger Clan, why would it be left with me?"

"It actually kinda makes sense, Tigress," said Po. "It _is_ from the Tiger Clan, which I'm pretty sure is a clan of _tigers_, and you, of course, happen to be one. Maybe you came from that clan."

Tigress nodded. "That would make sense. I remember Qiáng Jiǎo telling me that it could my heirloom."

"Well, then that just makes even more sense! Tigress, you could be the future leader of the Tiger Clan – think about it, a clan leader. That's probably even better than being the Dragon Warrior. I mean, don't get me wrong, being the greatest warrior in all of China's pretty sweet, but to be leader of a whole clan? And we're talking about a clan that helped sculpt the usage of Kung Fu. Can you imagine that, Tigress?"

"It would explain a lot," Tigress agreed. "But there is some conflict to this—why would such an important heirloom be left with a discarded child?"

"Well, do you remember what I told you about the time I found the village where I was born and found out why my real mom left me in that basket of radishes?"

Tigress nodded.

"Don't you think that maybe in your case there were similar circumstances?"

Tigress withheld her answer for a short moment, as she thought it over. "Do you really think so Po?" She couldn't help but still think that the initially unstable temperament she had as a cub would be a likely, if not probable, explanation for being left at Bao Gu, yet she also couldn't help but reminisce on Qiáng Jiǎo suggesting a similar scenario to the one Po suggested.

Po shrugged. "What other reason would you be left at the orphanage with the Yang Stone?"

Tigress' eyes hooded over somewhat as she thought it over—on one paw, that was a good question. On the other paw, Po's theory did sound sensible.

"That actually would make a lot of sense," said Crane. "Some kind of catastrophe could have befallen upon the royal family of Tiger Clan, or maybe even the clan itself, and your parents left you here in the Valley to save you. They must've also left the Yang Medallion with you so that you would eventually learn about your heritage, and then when you came of age, you'd step up and take their place as clan leader and restore the clan."

Tigress looked at Crane, then looked at Po. A faint smile formed on her lips as she lightly nodded her elaborately-striped head. "You may be right, Po. Perhaps that _is_ what happened." She turned her attention to the door of Po's room. "It seems we won't have to interrogate those bandits what the Yang Stone is, but we still need to know why they were after it—for all we know, it could be linked to why I was separated from my parents. They might know something about the Tiger Clan that we don't."

Crane nodded. "That's not a bad idea, but I think I should interrogate you on why _I_ was the one to remind Po not to make any snack stops when I was pretty sure it was Monkey's turn to tell him that." He gave the thewy tiger a stern, skeptical stare, with wings on hips.

An amused smirk played on Tigress' lips as she folded her hefty, striped arms. "Well, firstly, you're the swiftest, and the one carrying the message from me to the rest of the group. Po would receive the message a bit sooner from the first one to hear it than a middleman messenger."

Crane rolled his eyes. _Wouldn't I still be the middleman?_

"Second," Tigress continued, "Monkey never bothers to remind Po about the snack stops."

Crane sighed. "Fine, let's just get to those bird bandits. But when we get back to Jade Palace, I'm going to give Monkey a serious talk."

Po nodded. "Right, let's get to it. Oh, and Dad, d'you suppose that when you have the chance you could give our thanks to those two sheep friends of yours, Féngrèn and Féngzhì for making those awesome new threads for me and the guys? I mean, I know I've already thanked them before, but I just don't think one 'thank you' is enough."

Mr. Ping beamed a warm grin at his ursine son as he nodded. "Of course, son. And good luck with those bandits. Oh, and be sure to give them a good clout for me, you know, for causing such havoc upon my shop."

Po chuckled. "Will do, Dad. And I'll be sure to give an extra special clout to the ones that tried to corner you." Lifting the small goose off his webbed feet, he gave him a warm bear hug. Mr. Ping returned the hug, wrapping his little wings around the panda as far as he could.

Tigress couldn't help but indulge in the sight of this scene. She remembered the time she, Po and the Five were sailing to Gongmen City, and Po was relating to her the revelation that the father [the goose] he had known his whole life wasn't his true father. The only thing surprising about this news to her was that he hadn't realized this until decades after his adoption, when (as most anyone would agree) it should have been obvious long ago, even though on more than one occasion he had questioned if the goose really was his father. This, however, did not block her concern over whether this revelation bothered Po, and despite his denial of it, she knew he felt deeply troubled by this. She remembered the time she tried to force Po to stay in Gongmen Prison when he refused to answer her interrogations – that was when she listened as Po confessed his desperation to know of his true parents, whom he claimed Lord Shen knew about.

Tigress had long suppressed the troubles of her separation from her parents; one could say she had left it behind at the orphanage long ago (along with her doll, and—unbeknownst to her—the Yang Stone), or one could say it had been buried long ago by the new troubles she faced with the lack of love her care-takers provided her. Nevertheless, she understood Po's troubles, she understood them well. And soon, he, too, came to understand the true compassionate side of his hardcore comrade when she hugged him. She was glad he managed to find the truth about his true parents, but she was even more glad to know that he not only accepted the goose who raised him from cubhood throughout all those years as his father, but _embraced_ him as his father.

Tigress snapped back into reality as she noticed a sound filling the air. It was a soft, velvety sound, and it was awfully familiar. She touched a paw to her throat and found that it was vibrating—she was purring. Turning red beneath her orange fur, she ceased before anyone else would notice and beckoned to Po with a wave of her paw. "Come on, Po, we'd better get to those bandits—they've probably come to by now."

Putting his father down, Po hurried after Tigress. "Oh, right! See ya, Dad!"

"Oh, son, have you and your friends had lunch? I do still have some noodles left over if your hungry."

The three warriors paused in their tracks upon hearing the goose cook's offer and exchanged glances with each other—they haven't had a chance to have lunch yet, what with having to deal with those bandits back at Bao Gu Orphanage, delivering them to Jìng-Suǒ Prison and having deal with more bandits at the Noodle Restaurant.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the city of Gongmen, many a citizen watched as Āmā the goat Soothsayer made her way down the streets of Black Dragon Alley, flanked by two hefty-bodied escorts cladded in hooded habit-like robes of green silk and gold trim with blue stripes, which made it impossible for the onlookers to identify what species they were. The trio finally reached their destination, a stout-looking building that was originally built as a Kung Fu academy for young trainees, but was converted into a prison for Masters Ox and Croc during Lord Shen's reign; now it served as a temporary domicile for the two Masters whilst the Tower of Sacred Flame—which was destroyed by Shen in a failed attempt at his capture by Po and the Furious Five—was being reconstructed.

The old goat ceased before the antelope guards standing by the building's entrance. She bowed her horned head respectfully. "I bring a message for the Masters."

The guards exchanged glances and nods, and then returned their attention to Ama.

"You may enter," said one of the guards. "But the other two must remain out here."

Āmā nodded. "Very well." Her two robed escorts stood in place as she was escorted through the entrance by two of the antelopes.

One of the remaining guards tilted his head as he gazed inquisitively at the curious robed figures, straining to figure out what to make of them. "Who are you?"

A black paw emerged from the voluminous sleeve of the escort standing right of the questioner as he placed on his chest, bowing slightly. "We are escorts of the Soothsayer, sir."

"Yes, _that_ is apparent," replied the questioning guard. "But what are your names, and what kind of creatures are you?"

"I am Bǎi Cháo," answered the first escort to speak. He then gestured a paw to his companion. "This is Bāo Líng. I am afraid the one whom we serve does not permit us to reveal out identity any further."

The guard seemed to toy with his lance as he carved circles in the air with it, then lowering its head almost disarmingly. "Hmm… I see. But if say…_THIS_ were to happen?!" No sooner had he uttered the word 'this' than he gave an expertise flick of his lance, flipping Bǎi Cháo hood over to expose his features. He, along with the rest of the guard, then gasped in shock, and his lance fell with a clatter from his now limp hoof as he found himself gazing into one of the last faces he, or anyone else, would ever expect to see again.

* * *

"**_WHAT?!_**" The voices of Masters Croc and Ox boomed thunderously throughout the building in unison.

"Two of the Wu Sisters are free?!"

"That is _impossible_!"

Āmā shook her head. "Nothing is impossible. My visions do not lie, and neither do I—I am a soothsayer, thus I am to say what _is_, and I am here to do as I must."

Storming Ox's outraged expression quickly became rueful and apologetic as he knelt down. "Forgive us, Soothsayer, we do not doubt your word. It's just that it's so hard to conceive the Wu Sisters escaping a second time."

"I understand," sighed Āmā. "I too sorely wish it were not so, but my visions tell me what is to be, and so it shall be. Two of the sisters of Wu are freed once more, and soon so shall the third one, Su Wu."

The hearts of the two Masters sank.

"Su Wu? But then there will be all three," said Croc. "We can't take them on. We would be able to if Thundering Rhino were still here, but just us two against all three of the Sisters? Those are risky odds."

Ox stood up, his eyes burning with determination. "Then we can't allow the third one to escape." His eyes then shifted to his right, and he espied a horn mounted on the wall by two metal brackets. Rushing to the wall, he took the horn and sounded with all the vigor he could muster until a small fruit bat came fluttering in.

The bat landed beside the hulking bovid, panting heavily as he readjusted his fez. "You…called…sir?"

"Húfú, I want you to fly to Jìng-Bào Prison," bellowed Storming Ox with a strength in his breath sufficient enough to topple the little fruit bat. "Tell them that as an order from the Masters' Council they are to double—no, _triple_—no, _quadruple_ the guards, quadruple the weaponry, quadruple the security…quadruple _everything_! _Su Wu does not leave that prison_!"

"Yes, Master Ox," squeaked Húfú, not bothering to question the motive for a sudden demand for a dramatic increase in security in a prison that wasn't even in his home city—one did not need the wisdom of Oogway to know that these were urgent matters and that this was no time for something as trivial as asking questions. Without further ado, he took to his wings and hastily made his way to the exit.

Āmā simply shook her head as she watched the bat depart. "I am afraid it is no use. One's efforts to change one's destiny is like wing against the unmoving mountain—the wind may hurtle itself unto the mountain with all its might, but the mountain will not nudge in the slightest. I remember I had a mentor who taught me the art of fortune telling; he was an old tortoise who knew many things, and he had many sayings—one of them was that one often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it, and sometimes it can even turn out to be the shortcut. I had predicted that Shen would be defeated by a warrior of black and white, and he did everything he could to prevent it, but in the end he met his destiny on the road he chose to avoid it. Sometimes the actions we make to alter our fate will only succeed in sealing it."

"But we can't just sit around and wait for Su to escape," said Croc. "If the Wu Sisters reunite, all of China could be in grave danger, again. And the first thing they might do is come looking for us, seeking revenge."

"Yes," agreed Storming Ox. "And as you said: two against three are risky odds. Should it come to us having to stand up to them, we're going to need a third fighter on our side to fill in the blank that Thundering Rhino left. If our number is even to those of the Sisters like it was the first time we fought them, we might actually have a real chance this time."

"Agreed, but we can't hire just _any_ fighter."

"You're right. We need someone with a greatness that matches Rhino's; someone who among the best of the best, the greatest of the great; the most renowned fighter in all of China. We need…" Storming Ox paused. Both he and Croc turned to each other, locking gazes in a long dramatic pause before they both finished in unison.

"The Dragon Warrior."

Just then, the two Masters heard the entrance door opening, the hasty pitter-patter of rushing hooves, and a voice calling out urgently, "Masters, there is something you must see!"

* * *

**Who exactly are these escorts of Āmā? Will Storming Ox's decision to send Húfú to Jìng-Bào Prison prevent the escape of Su Wu, or only aid it? Stay tuned…**

* * *

**A/N:**

**Húfú (Pronounced: Hoo-Foo) = Fruit Bat, or Fox Bat (literal translation)**


	11. Interrogations

Po, Tigress and Crane had seated themselves at a vacated table, indulging in a meal of noodle soup, having decided that there no point in interrogating captured bandits on empty stomachs. The bandits, still unconscious and tied up, were seated next to the table. One of the crow bandits seemed to be coming to, for Tigress could hear him humming. When she turned her head to see what the crow was doing, she could see the bird's eyelids (still shut as they were) and brow twitching, as though his eyes were about to open; sure enough, they soon did.

As the crow's eyes began to flicker open, his beak began to lift, and the sound of sniffing issued forth as his beak pointed towards the bowl of noodles on the table. His eyes were now wide open and gazing at the bowl intently.

Tigress tapped Po's shoulder and pointed to the stirring bird bandits, who were starting to direct their attention towards the bowls of noodle soup of the three warriors. "Take a look, Dragon Warrior; it seems our bandit friends are up, and they seem pretty hungry, too."

Po, who was chewing on a beetroot, looked to the tied-up bandits gazing longingly at his bowl of noodles. He smiled slyly. "Indeed. Too bad for them that the only thing we feed criminals and wrong-doers is a full serving of justice."

"What's justice taste like?" asked a scrawny, clueless-looking crow. "I've never had it before." He was pecked in the head reprovingly by the largest crow in the bunch.

"Shut your beak!" snapped the large crow. He turned his attention to the panda. "What do you want from us?"

Tigress suddenly stood up from her seat, gazing fiercely at the crow. "We want an explanation."

"An explanation, for what?" asked the crow in a tone that sounded almost scornful.

The athletic big cat took a step closer. "We don't want any denial out of you lot. We know you're in league with this gang of crocs, wolves and leopards—they were wearing the same emblems as the ones you're wearing. We fought them not too long ago back at Bao Gu Orphanage, and they were after something called a Yang Stone. We already know what it is; what we want to know is why they want it."

The big crow narrowed his eyes. "Why should we tell _you_?"

The thewy feline began cracking her knuckles and flexing her biceps. "Because I've battered some of your falcon friends to the other side of Asia. Would you rather join them?"

The crow blinked nervously as he watched the tiger's arms swell increasingly with each flex. Neither he, nor his cronies, wished to share the same unfortunate experience as most of the falcons. He gulped. "L-Look, w-we're just scouts. Our job is to scavenge the lands for supplies. We're not as involved the the obtaining of this Yang Stone as those other guys, so we don't know so much about what all that business is about. If you want some real answers, you'd have to ask _them_. But I can say _this_: we're not just some common street thieves. We're troops, soldiers, men of the Róulìn SteelClaw Army, led by Tai-Huang Mei, Lady of Dài Bào. She sent us to this valley to retrieve the Yang Stone—why, that is beyond my knowledge. As I've said before, you'll have to ask the others."

"Well, then we might just have some luck there," said Po. "We've got some of those guys locked up at old Jìng-Suǒ Prison. We can ask them after we've sent you guys to join them."

The bird bandits groaned and squawked in complaint. Crane thrust his face towards them to shoot them a reproving look, but then he noticed something curiously familiar about the sash on one of the two falcons. He narrowed his eyes as he focussed hard on the raptor's sash, gasping as a sudden realization struck him. "Those silks, that color. That's one of Mei Ling's sash!"

Pushing himself away from the table, Crane leapt towards the tied-up bird bandits, standing imposing before the falcon, who quailed at the sight of the tall bird's eyes, which were blazing with rage. "How did you get that from her?!"

The bandits shrank in fear, but Po and Tigress were frozen with shock—they knew Crane could be a fierce fighter, but never had they seen such a calm and diplomatic bird display such aggression. Even Crane, himself, would be stunned if he had watched himself from another body.

There was a long, tense silence, until finally the falcon blinked up at Crane in apprehensive inquisitiveness. "Y-You know Mei Ling?"

"Um, I hate to interrupt, but who's Mei Ling?" asked Tigress.

"Ooh, ooh! I know this one," Po exclaimed with an arm raised as he bounced in his seat in excitement. "Crane told me about her." He paused, turning to face Crane. "Or, uh, would _you_ like to tell this one, Crane?"

Having calmed down, Crane turned to face the panda. "No, it's okay," he sighed. "Be my guest."

"Okay, so Mei Ling was, like, a classmate of Crane's back when he used to train at the Lee Da Kung Fu Academy," Po began, pointing a paw up sagely. "She was his closest friend there and motivated him to participate in the new student tryouts. He didn't started out in the academy training, though; he started out as its janitor. He always wanted to train there, but uh…"

Crane sighed and extended one of his long, spindly legs to finished Po's explanation to Crane's hesitance to join the academy.

Po coughed. "Er, right, but Mei Ling saw his awesome moves as he was sweeping up the place and said that he should try out for the academy. She was the only one who supported him and believed him on it when everyone else doubted him. No one else thought he was Kung Fu material at first, but boy did he prove them wrong when he showed them his moves in that obstacle course. On top of that, along with Mei Ling, he became one of the best students to train at Lee Da Academy."

With his foot tracing circles in the ground modestly, Crane nodded. "I wouldn't be where I am now if it hadn't been for Mei Ling. I owe it all to her." He sighed in nostalgia. "When the day came that I was summoned to Jade Palace to continue my training there, I gave Mei Ling my hat for her to remember me by, because, well, who wouldn't remember me for a hat like mine. In return, she gave me this." He reached a foot into his sash and produced a small golden badge made into the likeness of a phoenix. "It was given to her by a vagrant Tibetan monk. She insisted that I have it, and I promised both her and myself that I would keep this close to me, _always_."

"She gave _you_ something to remember her by, too?" asked the falcon, visibly touched by Crane's statement. "She did the same for me with her sash. I met her when she was questing to Mao Bao City. I helped guide her there, and I suppose you could say we grew a companionship." He dipped his head slightly in rumination, then he looked up at Crane. "At some point she did mention a friend of hers who trained with her at Lee Da; she said it was a crane like you, she said his name was Fēngcǎi."

Po was caught completely off guard by this. "Whoa! Time out! Hold it! So, there was, like, another crane in Lee Da Academy?"

"Uh, no, Po—I was the only one," said Crane. "_I_ am Fēngcǎi."

Po blinked dumbly. "But, but…wait a sec! I thought–"

"Po, I'm called Crane because I'm Master of Crane Style Kung Fu. It's an honorary title—see, if…er, if you were to become Master of Panda Style, you'd be called Master Panda, or just Panda. But of course, you're the Dragon Warrior, which is higher than a Style Master, so that's why you sometimes hear us address you as such. I mean, can you imagine having the name of your own species as your birth name?"

Po turned red underneath the white fur of his face as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Oh, yeah, I guess you've got a point there. Heheh. But then, why do you guys still call yourselves by your titles, even when you're just hangin' with each other."

Crane shrugged. "Respect, mainly."

Po looked to Tigress. "So, Tigress, if Crane's real name is Fēngcǎi, what's yours?"

"Měi Tǐlì," Tigress answered. "In Bao Gu Orphanage, they used to call me Kuáng, but Master Shifu renamed me Měi Tǐlì after he had adopted me."

"And Viper?"

"Qīngqiǎo. "

"And Monkey?"

"Kāilǎng."

"Mantis?"

Crane and Tigress answered this in unison. "Piāohàn."

Po looked to the falcon. "And you?"

"Lǎoyīng," answered the falcon. "But don't you guys have more important matters to deal with, like getting us to prison and asking interrogating our comrades there?" Fierce glares from the rest of the bird scouts were directed at Lǎoyīng. "What? We're captured, what else can we do but cooperate? That tiger's gonna whack us to the other side of Asia if we don't."

"Let's get these birds to Jìng-Suǒ," said Tigress. "This talk of an army really sounds like something to take seriously."

"Even more so with the fact that this Tai-Huang Mei is after a highly important artifact," Crane added.

Po quickly sprung out of his seat and walked up to the tied-up birds. "Right! Let's get to it." He then picked up one of the two captive bundles, this one holding the two falcons and the big crow.

Tigress picked up the bundle holding the other four crows and gave a single nod. "Let's move out. The sooner we get to Jìng-Suǒ, the sooner we can get to the bottom of this Yang Stone business."

Without further delay, the three warriors set off, departing Golden Harvest Noodle Restaurant and traversing towards Jìng-Suǒ Prison. The travel from the noodle restaurant to Jìng-Suǒ, of course, was not as far as it was from Bao Gu Orphanage.

* * *

The bandits caught at Bao Gu all sat miserably in their cell, either griping about their injuries or cursing the warriors that subdued them.

"Man, that lousy tiger and that lousy snake," muttered the commander of the crocs, leaning sullenly in the corner of his cell. "I won't be able to sit for a week." He then heard a tittering from the wolf commander not too far from his side.

"To have your tail handed to ya by just two women," the wolf giggled. "That's really something." His laughs became less suppressed.

"It's not funny, Lang," the croc hissed warningly at the wolf.

Lang immediately ceased in his laughter and adopted a more solemn expression, with paws held open passively. "You're right, you're right. It's not funny at all…" He remained silent for a few seconds, and then his lips began to purse and his cheeks inflated. His jaws then flew open wide as a huge guffaw exploded forth. "I-hi-hit's absolutely flipping hilarious! Ahaha!"

"Shut up!" the croc barked. But Lang continued to laugh unrestrained. Finally, the croc had lost all patience and pounced on the insolent canine. The two brawled about on the floor of the cell, biting, scratching and punching each other as they did. Many of the other crocodiles and wolves watched in fascination and even cheered the two duelers on.

"Give him another bite, Lang! That's it, right on his tail!"

"Haha! Lín Jīn's got him by _his_ tail! Slam him to the floor, Lín Jīn!

"Hah! A good old kick to the chest! That's right, Lang, you show that lump of scales!"

"Ooh! He's got him by the leg, Lang's in trouble now."

One wolf onlooker cringed at a painful sight. "_Youch!_ That's one place you don't wanna get punched in."

"Come on, Lín Jīn, get up! Don't let that Lang take ya down! Put a leash on that dog!"

The leopards, finding this scene to be simply idiotic and pointless, merely rolled their eyes in disdain and averted their attention.

"Lowbrow brutes," one of the leopards muttered.

The skirmish quickly ceased as the warden's voiced boomed out, "Look alive, Bao Gu bandits—you've got some visitors."

The prisoners all watched in sour despair as Po, Tigress and Crane came stepping up to their cell.

"Oh no," groaned Lín Jīn. "Not you guys again."

Focussing most his attention on Tigress, Lang wore a sardonic smile as he cocked his head towards Lín Jīn. "Come back to give old Lín Jīn here another whooping, eh? Say, where's your snake friend?"

Tigress shook her head as she dropped the four crows before the bars of the cell. "We're not here to deliver another beating. We're here for answers."

"Yeah, we know about this Yang Stone you're after, and this Tai-Huang you're serving," said Po. "Your little bird buds told us all about it." He then dropped the two falcons and the last crow next to the rest of the crows.

Lang and Lín Jīn turned their heads disdainfully away from the birds sitting before them.

"We don't know what you're talking about," said Lín Jīn. "We don't anything about this Tai-Huang, and we've never seen those birds before in our lives."

"Then how do you explain _this_?" asked Crane as he held up Lǎoyīng's sash in a taloned foot. "They're all wearing it, and it has the same symbol you're all wearing. Now, we don't want to hear anymore denial out of you. We know that you know who this Tai-Huang is and why she wants the Yang Stone—that's right, we know you were finding it for her, and we also know where she is. So you lot better come clean."

Lín Jīn folded his arms and looked down his long snout haughtily at the Warrior trio. "Alright, so we can't lie to you to hide the truth, that doesn't mean we can't still hide it. I mean, what can you guys do to us? We're in here, and you're out there."

For answer, Tigress seized two of the bars of the grating separating her comrades and herself from the Róulìn soldiers, and began to pull on them. An ominous, metallic creaking began to issue from bolts holding the framework of the grating in place as they slowly began to dislocate. "We easily beat before back at Bao Gu," the thewy big cat growled menacingly. "Don't think we can't do it a second time just because there's only half our number. Besides, there's even less of you lot than when we first fought you."

The warden whistled in astonishment at the sight of the bars caving in to the stunningly power pull of the athletic feline. "I'd be spilling the beans if I were you. If she can rip those bars out like that, I'd hate to see what she can do to you fellows."

The prisoners all quailed at the sight of their only protective barrier being torn out. This was enough for Lín Jīn. "All right, all right! We'll talk, just please stop that!"

Tigress released the bars and placed her paws to her hips. "Well, start talking."

Lín Jīn gulped. "Y'see, the Yang Stone is an emblem of power. Our leader, Lady Tai-Huang Mei, requires the possession of the Yang Stone so that all will recognize her as the powerful warrior she is as she reclaims what is rightfully hers."

Po raised a brow skeptically. "Uh… What's this…thing that's rightfully hers, exactly?"

The Róulìn soldiers all gasped in shock, then began growling and snarling in outrage.

Lín Jīn thrust his long-jawed head through the spacing of the bars as he pounded a scaly fist against one of them and roared, "Recognition as the most powerful warrior in all of China, possession of Garnet Palace, and…" He suddenly paused, narrowing his eyes as he shifted them side to side, as though to survey for any eavesdroppers. He finished, his voice now a secretive whisper. "The Phoenix Scroll."

* * *

**Now we finally know what Tai-Huang Mei ****_really_**** wants with that Yang Stone, but what is this Phoenix Scroll? After hearing Crane's brief talk about Mei Ling, does anyone else sense something being foreshadowed? Stay tuned to find out what's to come later…**

* * *

**A/N 1:**

**Fēngcǎi (Pronounced: Fung Tie) = Svelte / Elegant / Graceful**

**Měi Tǐlì (Pronounced: May Tee Lee) = Beautiful Strength (Shifu gave this name to Tigress when she had mastered self control)**

**Kuáng (Pronounced: Kwong) = Mad / Wild / Violent (This is what they used to call Tigress back in Bao Gu)**

**Qīngqiǎo (Pronounced: Ching Chee-ow) = Dexterous / deft / easy / light and easy to use / nimble / agile / lithe / graceful**

**Kāilǎng (Pronounced: Tie Lang) = Optimistic / cheerful / carefree / easy-going / open-minded**

**Piāohàn (Pronounced: Pee-ow Han) = Swift and Fierce**

**Lǎoyīng (Pronounced: La-ow Ying) = Bird of prey**

**Láng = Wolf**

**Lín Jīn = Scaled Muscle**

* * *

**A/N 2:**

**I figured the Furious Five needed some actual names, because I'm pretty sure that the names we often hear from them are just honorary titles, seeing how they're masters. After all, it doesn't make much sense to have the name of your own species as your birth name—it's like a human being named Human. So, I figured I'd introduce the Five's real names.**


	12. Conspiracy of the Counselor

**Finally, we shall learn what Nāgá's planning, along with how he came to be where he is now.**

* * *

Back in Dài Bào, in the fortress of Tóng Fùmiè, the crocodilian escort and the two sisters had finally reached the guest room. He stood by the entrance, thrusting his spear through it to gesture the two leopardesses to enter with a low, boorish grunt.

The two leopardesses did as bade, and entered the room. Wan couldn't help but admire the lovely decor of the room—the carpet felt like velvet beneath her feet; in each corner of the room there was a small table that held a vase of lit lilly incense; and there were three luxurious-looking cots with brass dragon-like framing and sheets that seemed to be made of the same material as the carpet (one bed at the west wall, another at the opposite wall, and the other at the north wall, where a window was).

"They certainly know how to style a room for guests," she said as she indulged in the sensation of the velvety carpeting under her soles.

Wing nodded her masked head. "They certainly do." She then looked back at the croc escort, watching as he sauntered off. When she felt sure that the coast was clear, she seated herself onto her bed by the West wall, patting an area to her left to gesture her sister to sit there. "Sit down, dear sister. I shall now tell you about this plan of Nāgá's."

Wan stepped up to Wing's bed and seated herself beside her masked sister. "Well, what is it?"

Wing's eyes shifted left and right, as though to scan for any unseen eavesdroppers, then she leaned towards her sister's ear and finally spoke. "Let's start with all those reptile's in Tai-Huang's army. Before they began working for her, they used to be led by Nāgá—they were his own army, the Scaled Pattrav-Rizcika Army. Yes, Nāgá wasn't always a counselor, though that is how he started, but not as Tai-Huang's. He once served a Nepali lord who ruled by the eastern edge of Nepal, and was one of his many counselors, yet amongst his least relied. This Nepali lord had close relations with a tiger lord who ruled on the other side of the border in the city of Mao Bao. The Nepali lord presented Nāgá to the Chinese tiger lord as a token of their close relations, and the tiger lord relied and heeded Nāgá's counsel like his original owner never had—it gave Nāgá's life meaning.  
Then, Lord Tiger took up a wife, and Nāgá soon found himself displaced as the new Lady Tigress made her counselor's tongue apparent and Lord Tiger began to rely on her word more than that of his own qualified advisor. Nāgá grew to envy and despise Lady Tigress, for because of her, he was now as much worth to Lord Tiger as he was to his Nepali lord. His behavior had changed as well, becoming bitter and secretive, as though furtively plotting something that he wanted no one else to know of. This all soon became apparent to Lord Tiger and Lady Tigress, and they found it ominous. In their deep concern, they summoned a seer, Xiān-Jiàn Zhě."

Wan's enquiry interrupted her sister's narrative. "Xiān-Jiàn Zhě? Isn't that the crane who told Tai-Huang of the bat messenger?"

"Yes," Wing answered. "He is that very seer whom Lord Tiger and Lady Tigress summoned to relate Nāgá's new foreboding behavior and ask what it would lead to. Xiān-Jiàn Zhě foretold that if Nāgá's resentment over Lady Tigress were to unleash a dire threat upon the royal tiger family in a time to come, Nāgá would meet his end at the hands of one of the two cubs that Lady Tigress was expecting. Unbeknownst to the tigers, however, Nāgá had overheard this prophecy and learned that his hatred towards Lady Tigress would lead him to threaten to royal tiger family in the future, and that this would eventually result in his demise. This future, however, came sooner than Xiān-Jiàn Zhě had predicted, for Nāgá quickly devised a plan to change his fate.  
One night, when he caught Lady Tigress alone in the hall, he tried to assassinate her, knowing that her death would prevent the birth of the cubs that would eventually defeated him. The attempt failed for Lady Tigress was not a defenseless woman—she managed to fight him off, and when Nāgá tried to inflict a lethal bite onto Lady Tigress, she managed to deflect it with her own palms. Palms on which Nāgá had shattered his fangs."

Wan drew her head back slightly, blinking in astonishment. "Really? That Lady Tigress must've had some awfully hard palms."

Wing nodded. "Indeed. But Nāgá lost more than his fangs – he lost his dignity, the totality of Lord Tiger's trust, his place in Lord Tiger's palace, and nearly his own life. Lady Tigress insisted that Nāgá be sentenced to death for his treasonous act, but for the first time in his marriage, Lord Tiger declined his wife's advice and merely sentenced his former counselor to exile in Nepal, from whence he came. Enraged, Nāgá swore revenge, that he would return and deliver retribution unto the royal tiger family for their wrongs; and he kept to his word. During the months of his exile in Nepal, Nāgá concocted plans and forged an army out of the local reptiles, and thus the Scaled Pattrav-Rizcika Army was born.  
He finally led his great reptilian army back to China, to the City of Mao Bao, on which he launched his attack. Nāgá and his army laid waste to the entire city, slaughtering countless citizens, including the royal tiger family. With victory his, Nāgá proclaimed himself as ruler of Mao Bao City (or at least what was left of it), with his reptilian minions as his primary subjects (what with the felines that made the former bulk of the city's population having been rid of) and the remaining non-feline citizens as lowly slaves. He ruled the city undisturbed for many years, until the surviving felines of Mao Bao returned with an army of their own to reclaim the city. Nāgá had thought that he had eliminated all felines from Mao Bao, so the attack took him by great surprise. However, because of his previous victory over them, Nāgá underestimated the power of his feline foes What the felines lacked in numbers, however, they made up for in physical strength, spirit and the determination to take back their home, ultimately bringing Nāgá and his army to a crushing defeat that drove him and what was left of his soldiers out of the city, much to Nāgá's frustration.  
Roving the land once again, Nāgá began concocting more sinister schemes and recruiting more reptiles to rebuild his depleted army. At some point, they met a snow leopard named Tai Lung, leader of an army of wolves and clouded leopards like ourselves, along with a few gorillas, oxen, boars, and crocs—the Lang-Bao Shadow Army. When they first met, they clashed, but Nāgá—being one who saw strength in combined forces—soon pacified with Tai Lung and persuaded him to have both their armies join forces. Tai Lung agreed to Nāgá's terms, but only under the conditions that Nāgá's army merged with _his_, that he was to retain his position as head leader, and that Nāgá was to denote himself as one of Tai Lung's subordinates. Nāgá complied, but strongly advised that he should be in the position as Tai Lung's second-in-command, and so he was. Nāgá could've simply overthrown Tai Lung and usurp his position as leader of the army, but he heard Tai Lung's plans to conquer the Valley of Peace, take revenge upon the false Dragon Warrior who stole his rightful title, and take control of Jade Palace, so he decided to bide his time and play his part—once Tai Lung has accomplished his plans in conquering the Valley, then Nāgá would make his move.  
Tai Lung and his army traveled long and far through the lands of China until they reached the Gansu Province, where they learned of Tai-Huang Mei. They learned that she was once a student of Garnet Palace, one of the greatest that Master Bǎo Mei had ever trained. However, she ended up in prison when her ambitions led her towards a dark path, and was now within the stronghold of Mount Mián Xiǎn. This fortress we're in now was once that very prison."

"Really?" Wan asked.

"Yes. Now, finding a great admiration for this Tai-Huang, because of her background holding a great similarity to his own, Tai Lung led his army to the wastelands of Dài Bào, where Mount Mián Xiǎn is. They took out the guards of the Mián Xiǎn stronghold (all of whom were the rhinoceri and most of the oxen and gorillas in what is now the Róulìn SteelClaw Army) and freed Tai-Huang. Nāgá looked upon the tiger and proclaimed to Tai Lung that she was not merely some great Kung Fu fighter, but a descendant of royalty. He said that he could see it in her markings. Overcome with awe at the notion that he was now standing before royalty, Tai Lung knelt before Tai-Huang and submitted his leadership to her. That is how Tai-Huang Mei became Lady of Dài Bào and leader of the Róulìn SteelClaw Army, which was joined by many more bandits, marauders, mercenaries, warlords and such as time went on. Some of its most recent recruits, a band of wolves and gorillas, were said to have once served in the royal army of the great Lord Shen, and a band of gorilla bandits who claim to be mortal enemies of the great Viper Clan."

Wan nodded knowingly. "Well, now I know how the Róulìn SteelClaw Army was formed, and how Tai-Huang Mei became its leader and Lady of Dài Bào, but how does this explain Nāgá's plan?"

"I was just about to get to that," said Wing. "Now, Tai-Huang Mei plans to conquer the whole Gansu Province, but Nāgá plans to take back Mao Bao City, and Tai-Huang is his ticket to doing so. This is where the Yang Stone comes in."

"What is a Yang Stone?" Wan asked.

"You've seen a Yin-Yang, haven't you?"

Wan nodded. "Yes, I have."

"Well, a Yang Stone is a medallion made to resemble the Yang on a Yin-Yang. Nāgá has convinced Tai-Huang that the Yang Stone is a symbol of power, so she has sent her soldiers to seek it out so that when she has reclaimed Garnet Palace, everyone will look up the Yang Medallion she will wear and acknowledge and praise her as the great warrior she had spent years to become. Once that is done, Nāgá will advise her to move her forces into Mao Bao City. You see, what Tai-Huang does not know yet is that the Yang Stone is not just a symbol of power, it is the emblem of the leader of the Tiger Clan, and that was who Lord Tiger was. When the felines of Mao Bao see Lady Tai-Huang enter their city with the Yang Medallion around her neck, they will recognize her as the long-lost heir of Lord Tiger and Lady Tigress returning to claim her rightful position as ruler of Mao Bao City and the Tiger Clan. Nāgá is just doing the same with Tai-Huang as he did with Tai Lung—biding his time and playing his part. Once the time is ripe, he will dispose of Tai-Huang and reclaim his place as ruler of Mao Bao City."

Wan blinked inquisitively. "But the felines had driven Nāgá out of their city before. Even if Nāgá manages to usurp Tai-Huang's position as ruler of the city, won't the felines simply reject him and drive him out again?"

"That is why he advised Tai-Huang to ally with us," Wing answered, pointing up a clawed finger. "Who were the ones that took on the entire Jackal Nation armed with nothing more than a pair of chopsticks? Who nearly managed to conquer all of China with an army of evil clans? Who are the ones who, when combined, are more powerful than any Kung Fu master?"

Wan gestured her paws to her sister and herself. "Who other?"

Wing nodded. "Precisely. With us by his side, along with an even larger army, who will be able to stand against Nāgá? Together, we can conquer, not just Mao Bao City, but the entire country, just like Su had once planned. But it won't be just China either." Reaching a paw beneath her pillow, she pulled out a rolled up parchment. She unfurled it, revealing a map of all of Asia, Europe, Africa and Australasia. Two arrows indicating the trails of conquest stretched out from China; one going Southeast down Indonesia and towards Australia, the other going West, forking in half at some point in which one half traveled down the Middle East and into Africa and the other half traveled into Europe. "Nāgá plans to conquer all _this_."

Wan blinked in utter astonishment. "It's so much land. Can it be done?"

Wing chuckled darkly. "With us and all of China under his command, what _can't_ be done? Soon, my sister, it shall be all _ours_."

"Don't you mean _his_?" Wan asked.

Wing narrowed her eyes. "No, I mean _ours_. We will be like Nāgá—we will bide our time and play our part as his loyal allies, and when the time is ripe… Well, I'm sure you know what happens at that point."

Wan's golden eyes lit up with deceitful glee as a sinister smile crept on her lips. She nodded and intertwined her paws. "Indeed, sister. Indeed…"

* * *

Standing outside the entrance of the guest room was the crocodilian escort. He had feigned setting off to fetch refreshments, and when he had judged that the two leopardesses suspected that he was gone, he silently returned to eavesdrop on whatever conversation was to be exchanged between the two Wu Sisters—he heard what they had been whispering as he led them to their room, something about a plan. He knew they were up to something, and what he had just heard confirmed it.

He had to warn his superiors of this. Before he could, however, he felt something hard and cold being pressed against his neck. He looked down and saw the three blades of a fenghuo lun ring at his throat.

A familiar voice whispered ominously in his ear. "Going somewhere?"

* * *

**Uh oh, looks like our crocodile escort's in a quite a sticky situation. And it looks like Tai-Huang Mei isn't the only one being conspired against. Now that you've learned a little about Nāgá's backstory, post in your reviews and tell me if you think there's been more behind him than you first suspected. And after reading how Nāgá lost his fangs, can anyone guess how this can be connected to Tigress?**

* * *

**A/N:**

**Pattrav-Rizcika (or PattravRzcika) is sanskrit for venomous reptile.**

**Mao Bao = Cat Leopard (Mao Bao City gets it name because it is inhabited mainly by felines)**


	13. The Clans Live

**Now we shall see who these escorts of Āmā really are…**

* * *

Masters Croc and Storming Ox could not believe what their eyes displayed to them at the sight of the two hooded figures standing before them, one of them unhooded—it was the sight of what his hood had been hiding that flabbergasted and filled the two Masters with utter disbelief. This now unhooded figure revealed a round, white, ursine head with black ears and large black patches around emerald-green eyes. These features were unmistakably a panda's.

With eyes seeming ready to pop out of his head and his jaw hanging limp, Storming Ox could only stammer one thing in enquiry. "P-P-P-Po, the Dragon Warrior?" Could it be? No sooner had he stated that he and Croc would require the aid of the Dragon Warrior to defeat the Wu Sisters, should all three of them reunite, than one of the guards presented this panda to him. Could the gods have really answered his prayer that quickly? Could they have already answered it long beforehand, knowing what the situation would come to?

The panda shook his head. "I am Bǎi Cháo. I am afraid I do not know this Po."

"You mean there is another panda besides Po?" Croc asked, still utterly bewildered.

Bǎi Cháo nodded. "Apparently so. So this Po is another panda as well?"

"But that's impossible," said Ox. "They were all wiped out by Shen and his army… All except for Po." He remembered Po—at the time before he and the Five left Gongmen City—relating to his comrades the revelation he had discovered in the ruins of the Panda Village sometime after Lord Shen had shot him out of his Fireworks Factory with one of his cannons.

Bǎi Cháo shook his head. "We stand before you as living proof that he is not the only survivor. Indeed, the white peacock and his wolves had slaughtered many of our kind, and Po might have been all that was left of us, had it not been for Hǎohàn and Yīngyǒng. Hǎohàn rallied all those of his kin willing to fight to fend off the wolves. They fought with every ounce of strength and vigor, right down to the last breath, as they kept the enemy at bay, giving the others the chance to escape.

Hǎohàn and his fellow fighters gave no quarters, nor showed any intent to fall back, but the numbers of the wolf army was proving to be too overwhelming—they would have lost the battle and their lives if it had not been for the miraculous arrival of a band of tigers led by Yīngyǒng. They hastened to the aid of Hǎohàn and his comrades, and with their great strength and ferocity, they trimmed down the ranks of wolves greatly. The wolves were not prepared for an attack from reinforcements that not even the pandas had expected, so many were soon demoralized and fled. The deserters were at their greatest number when the most unexpected thing had happened—the remaining fighters of Hǎohàn and Yīngyǒng have claimed that at some point in the battle, the two locked hands and transformed into a spinning wheel of Yin and Yang surrounded by the sounds of a shrieking phoenix and a roaring dragon. Any wolf that came into contact with it vanished into oblivion.

When the battle was over and the wolves near the village were defeated, Hǎohàn and Yīngyǒng returned to their normal forms and brought along their remaining fighters too seek out any survivors of Hǎohàn's kin. They soon found Níngjìng, governor of our village and leader of the Panda Clan; he was mortally wounded in his attempt to fend off the wolves, and he was breathing his last breaths. Hǎohàn's fighters told Níngjìng all of what had happened, and Níngjìng gave Hǎohàn the Yin Medallion and declared that he shall be the new leader of the clan. In his final breaths, Níngjìng told Hǎohàn that he had been forewarned in a vision that the white peacock and his wolves would ravage his clan, but that one day a warrior would rise and deliver justice unto the peacock for the genocide he had inflicted. Hǎohàn asked if it would be him, but Níngjìng said it would not, but one that it would be one that Hǎohàn would be proud to have known, even if for such a short while. That was all he had said, before…"

Bǎi Cháo paused gravely, letting his head wilt and his eyes hood over. Croc and Storming Ox exchanged glances and beamed gazes of respectful sympathy.

"I…I'm so sorry," said Storming Ox.

Bǎi Cháo sighed and continued. "Hǎohàn, Yīngyǒng and their fighters searched far and wide for any survivors. It took many days of fruitless searching, hope was depleting, but survivors were found. We do not know if there are still others out there somewhere, but those that were found were but very few. I am one of those few."

"And Bāo Líng?" Croc asked looking to Bāo Líng.

Bāo Líng pulled back his cowl to reveal the elaborately striped head of a tiger. "I am one of the fighters of Yīngyǒng. I have witnessed the transformation of he and Hǎohàn and I know it as true." He paused for a moment and sighed. "Yīngyǒng was not just the leader of a roving band of fighters. He is the leader of the Tiger Clan, and was once Lord of Mao Bao City, so he was known as Lord Tiger. But he had lost his city to his traitorous counsellor, Nāgá, who had sworn vengeance and brought a great reptilian army to ravage the city. Many of us tigers fought the reptilian raiders, but their forces were too great for us to hold off. Some of us had families and had to flee. Yīngyǒng dueled against his counsellor in his burning palace.

The duel was long and arduous— Nāgá had once tried to attack Yīngyǒng's wife long before he had reared the invasion of the city, but his fighting skills were not sufficient enough, and he was quickly stopped and lost his fangs in the fight. However, since his exile, Nāgá's skills had improved greatly; his fangs were replaced with ones of metal, longer and sharper than the ones he had lost; and on his tail he had placed a blade he called Damzanam. With his swift reflexes, he dodged every blow Yīngyǒng threw at him, and with his blade Damzanam, he inflicted many a wound. Yīngyǒng endured them all, but it was the bite from Nāgá's metal fangs that weakened him.

Nāgá watched as Yīngyǒng slumped to the floor defeated, too weakened by the venom to keep fighting, and then, carried by his flying lizards, he left the burning palace to crumble and crush Yīngyǒng therein. However, Yīngyǒng was saved, pulled out to safety by a bird named Xiān-Jiàn Zhě, a seer Yīngyǒng had known before, with the aid of three eagle brothers and one sister. The birds carried Yīngyǒng away from the chaos stirring within Mao Bao City and healed him. Xiān-Jiàn Zhě said that Yīngyǒng was an exceptionally strong fellow, that had he been an ordinary victim, he would have suffered the effects of the venom and died from it much sooner. He also foretold that Yīngyǒng must gather the remaining tigers and traverse south to seek the Panda Clan.

Yīngyǒng knew this meant leaving behind Mao Bao City, the home of his clan, but with great reluctance, and without any questioning, he did as Xiān-Jiàn Zhě instructed, knowing that he must, indeed, gather the survivors of his city. After many days of searching, he found as many survivors as he could—about over half a score—and led them on to the lands of the Panda Clan."

"So then the arrival of you tigers at where Hǎohàn and his fighters were fending off Shen's wolves wasn't really a thing of pure chance," said Croc.

Bāo Líng nodded. "Indeed, it was not."

"But where have you tigers and pandas been since the invasion of Shen?" asked Storming Ox.

"When we had found as many survivors of the Panda Clan as we could," Bǎi Cháo answered, "we sought out a land where we could live in secrecy and rebuild our dying races isolation from any threat that would seek to fully purge us. That is all I can say—by showing our identities to you and telling that our races still live, we have already revealed to you too much. We are forbidden to reveal our location, lest those who may threaten us know where to find us. We know that you are friends and hold no intentions to bring harm upon us, but we cannot risk such information entering the wrong ears."

"But Shen is dead and his army is gone," said Storming Ox. "There's no one left who will wish to harm you."

"Perhaps the threat of Shen has passed," Bāo Líng replied, shaking his head grimly, "but not that of Nāgá. Not as far as we know. He and his reptile army probably still occupy Mao Bao City. Hǎohàn and Yīngyǒng could use their Yin-Yang attack on the reptiles, but they have said themselves that they do not know how they had done it, yet they are certain that it was done because it was all but necessary. Because of this, they believe that it can be done again, should it be needed, but they do not know if they can on their own desire—marching back to Mao Bao City to liberate would be one such instance."

"Mao Bao was already liberated," said Croc. "A great number of the reptiles were killed off, and whatever remained of them fled the city."

"And what of Nāgá?" asked Bāo Líng tilting his head in suspicion. "Has he been slain in the liberation of Mao Bao, or has he escaped with the rest of his minions?"

Storming Ox shrugged. "No one knows."

Gravely shaking his striped head, Bāo Líng sighed. "Then there is the possibility that Nāgá still lives, along with his reptilian soldiers. There is still too much risk."

Croc casted a glance at his own arm, noting its scaly complexion. "I understand that you'd be uncomfortable with a reptile such as myself in your presence. Perhaps it'd be best if–"

"There is nothing you need to do," replied Bāo Líng, holding out a restraining paw. "I am not uncomfortable near you, for I know you are not one of Nāgá's minions."

Storming Ox shook his horned head. "I can assure you that. Now, we understand your concern about Nāgá finding your hideout, but it's not like you'll be revealing the location to all the publicity of China. I believe it should only, for the time being, be known to the highest authorities of the country—like us Masters of the Council, or the Emperor, or Jade Palace—for a political reconnection."

Bǎi Cháo and Bāo Líng exchanged glances, as though seeking each other for approval, then nodded in consideration as they returned their attention to the two Masters.

"For this trip, we were sworn to keep our location and our identity secret," said Bǎi Cháo. "We could ask Hǎohàn and Yīngyǒng if we could arrange a second meeting and give you the information to the location of our hideout, but for now, we must hold to our oaths."

Storming Ox nodded. "We understand."

"And am afraid we must now depart," said Bāo Líng, as both he and his companion pulled down their cowls. "Good fortunes to you both." And without further delay, he and Bǎi Cháo turned and padded towards the exit.

Āmā clasped both her hooves onto Storming Ox's right hoof, as she gazed up into his eyes. "Fair you very well. I am sure our next reunion shall be quite soon."

Storming Ox could feel something being pressed into his hoof, and he closed it as Āmā released her hooves from his.

Āmā nodded to both the ox and the crocodile. "Good fortunes to you both." She then turned around to follow her two escorts.

Once the visiting trio was gone, Storming Ox brought his closed hoof up to his face and opened it slowly to reveal a small, folded-up piece of paper. He unfolded it and found it to covered with writing—it was a message.

Croc noticed his ox companion scanning his eyes along the sheet of paper. "What is it Ox? Is that message?"

Storming Ox lowered the paper from his face as he turned to gaze down at Croc. "It's the location of the hideout…and the path the Dragon Warrior will be taking."

* * *

**Now we know what has become of the fabled Tiger Clan and Panda Clan in the aftermath of the onslaught of ********Nāgá and Lord Shen. Will Masters Croc and Storming Ox set off to uncover the concealed hideout of the survivors of these once-presumed extinct clans, and cross paths with the Dragon Warrior, wherever it is that he shall go? Where have the survivors of these clans been hiding all this time? When will all of China learn that these clans still live?**** Find out later in the chapters to come.**

* * *

**A/N:**

**Hǎohàn (Pronounced: How Han) = hero / strong and courageous person**

**Yīngyǒng = bravery / gallant / valiant (And yes, it's Lord Tiger's actual name)**

**Níngjìng = tranquil / tranquility / serenity**

**Damzanam (or daMzanaM karoti) = Sanskrit for "sting" (If you've read Tolkien's work, you'll notice there's a touch of a reference to it in giving Nāgá's tail blade this name)**


	14. Learning the Plan and Setting Off

**This is the moment we've all been waiting for. Finally, we shall learn what Tai-Huang really wants with this Yang Stone.**

* * *

"You have two options," whispered Wing Wu to the crocodilian spy, the blades of her fenghuo lun ring still kept pressed against his scaly throat. Her sister kept the blades of her own ring pressed against the croc's chest. "You can either cooperate, or you can die. Your choice."

The croc breathed shallowly as he gazed at the flame-like blades at his throat and chest. He had to carefully weigh his options, for both held heavy consequences—if he chose death, the vital information he had of the Wu Sisters' Conspiracy would never reach his superiors, and the Wu Sisters would be able to continue conspiring against them. If he chose to cooperate, he would most likely be forced to aid the Sisters in secretly working against his superiors. Not only would he be betraying the trust of his superiors, he would also be putting his life on the line, for would certainly kill him if they were to find out. And if he tried to warn them of what was going on, he would risk the Wu Sisters killing him for betraying _their_ trust. However, if he played things out right, he might be able to save his skin throughout all this.

He sighed. "What do you want?"

"First," Wing answered, "we want you to have those refreshments brought to us as Tai-Huang ordered. Second, to keep your mouth shut about what you have heard. Third, to be our lookout, to watch for anyone who might suspect something about our plans. If you see any such person, inform us immediately. Is that understood?"

The croc nodded. "Yes, understood."

* * *

Back in the Valley of Peace, in the prison of Jìng-Suǒ, the three warriors—Po, Tigress and Crane—stood stunned by Lín Jīn's talk of a Phoenix Scroll. Those two words placed together in that order sounded so familiar. It reminded them of the Dragon Scroll. It made them dare to wonder—could there be another scroll like the Dragon Scroll somewhere in China? Was something like that really possible.

"Eh, what…exactly _is_ this Phoenix Scroll?" Po asked.

Lín Jīn scoffed as though the answer should have been obvious. "Only the vessel of the secret to limitless power. They key to becoming the Phoenix Warrior."

The three warriors gasped inwardly. _Secret to limitless power, just like the Dragon Scroll? Maybe it _does_ have an equivalent after all. But why?_

Po raised a brow as he threaded another question. "Do you…know of the Dragon Scroll?"

Lín Jīn blinked bemusedly at Po. "Dragon Scroll?"

"_I've_ heard of it," said a feminine voice. It came from one of the clouded leopard soldiers, who stepped up to the crocodile's side by the grating of their cell. "It's almost the same as the Phoenix Scroll, except it's meant for the Dragon Warrior—the Phoenix Scroll is just its equivalent. Master Oogway wrote the Dragon Scroll for the Dragon Warrior." She looked to Po. "Which, as you have told us before, happens to be you. Oogway then did likewise with the Phoenix Scroll for the Phoenix Warrior, which Lady Tai-Huang Mei is to be. He wrote both scrolls so that there would be both a Dragon Warrior and a Phoenix Warrior. You've heard of how dragons and phoenixes are like Yin and Yang, haven't you?"

The three warriors nodded.

"Well," the leopardess continued, "then I'm sure you also know that both Yin and Yang are precious in retaining balance and order to everything. You can't have either of the two, or there'll be no balance. You need both of them. The same applies with the Dragon and Phoenix Warrior—you can't have one greatest warrior in China without another one of equal greatness to compliment the first one's power."

The three warriors were utterly stunned at the idea of another warrior equally as powerful as the Dragon Warrior.

Crane ushered another enquiry. "And this Tai-Huang wants to become the Phoenix Warrior?"

"It is her destiny!" the leopardess snapped, latching her paws fiercely around the bars of the grating. "Her right! And it's not only that title she wants; it's the Yang Stone, Garnet Palace and recognition for her greatness!"

"Yes, your crocodile friend has already told us that," said Tigress, placing her paws on her hips. "But how does she plan to obtain all this, minus the Yang Stone" She suspected there would be attacks involved, but she wanted to know just what kinds.

"First," Lín Jīn began, "she's going to send her army to storm the Xiahe County of Gansu – the major target there is the town Chāo-Hépíng, where the Garnet Palace is, and that's where the Phoenix Scroll is. She'll take out the Palace's fighters with the aid of the Wu Sisters."

Po gasped. "The Wu Sisters? The most notorious villains to ever terrorize China? The ruthless leopardess trio who took on the whole Jackal Nation armed with nothing but a pair of chopsticks; the Ngoh Wan Crocodile Clan with a wok; and Masters Thundering Rhino, Storming Ox, and Croc? The ferocious feline trio who, when combined, are more powerful than any Kung Fu Master, save for those other three guys I mentioned?"

Lín Jīn nodded. "Those very ones."

"But I thought they were defeated by those three masters, and…y'know, locked up again."

"They _were_. That is, until we bailed them out." A crafty grin grew on Lín Jīn's long-jawed features. "We've already got two of them. All we need is their leader, Su Wu, and we'll have one of the most powerful fighting forces in China."

The three warriors exchanged fearful glances.

"We have to warn Shifu and the others about this," said Tigress urgently. "This very serious and very urgent, no doubt about that."

"Definitely." Po replied. "We gotta get back to the Palace ASAP!" He then looked to the warden of Jìng-Suǒ Prison and nodded to the two bundles of tied up crows and falcons. "So uh, you'll handle those birds for us right?"

The warden nonchalantly shifted his hefty shoulders. "It _is_ part of the job. I'm sure there's enough room in that cell for them." He looked to the cell that held the Róulìn soldiers, many of whom were glaring and pounding their fists into their hands threateningly at the bird scouts, whom they knew had given away a good deal of information about them.

Having taken an apprehensive glance at his glaring, erstwhile comrades, the big crow of the lot gazed imploringly at the warden. "Are you sure you can't find us another cell?"

"Hold on," said Crane, holding up a wing. "We're not leaving them _all_ here."

Po and Tigress looked to Crane, blinking in puzzlement.

"We're bringing Lǎoyīng to Jade Palace with us," he replied, gesturing a talon to the falcon. "He said that he knew Mei Ling. I'd like to question him a little more on that."

* * *

Viper, Monkey and Mantis stood within the path leading to the Student Barracks, looking up at the sky as they noted the position of the sun.

"They've been gone for some time now," said Viper, worried over Po, Tigress and Crane.

Mantis scratched his antennae with a claw-like forelimb. "Yeah, they have. How long could it take them to beat up a bunch of birds?" He then looked sheepishly at Viper and Monkey, whose shoulder he was perched on. "Uh, but don't tell Fēngcǎi what I said about the bird part."

"Well," said Monkey, trying to reassure his other two comrades, "it's not just defeating all those bird bandits. Fēngcǎi will be there telling Po and Měi Tǐlì about the Yang Stone. And of course, there'll be getting those bandits to the prison and coming back here. The prison's on a high mountain, and so is Jade Palace, so that could take them some time. Well, you know, for Po and Měi Tǐlì, that is. I'd say that from the amount of time that's passed, it shouldn't take them much longer."

Mantis nodded in agreement. "You're right. Well, we should probably be headed for the Training Hall. Master Shifu wouldn't want us slacking off just because we're worried over nothing."

The other two warriors nodded and began progressing their way down the path to make their way to the Training Hall, when suddenly a familiar voice called out, "Hold up there, guys!"

They stopped and saw Po, Tigress and Crane striding up towards them.

"You guys aren't thinking about starting without us, are ya?" Po asked.

"Hoo-hoo! You're back, guys," said Monkey cheerfully.

"Right on time, too," Mantis added. He then noticed the falcon standing beside Crane. "Who's he?"

Crane looked to the falcon standing by his side. "That's Lǎoyīng. He was one of the bandits Po and Tigress here dealt with. He said he once knew Mei Ling."

Mantis tilted his head in confusion. "Mei Ling?"

"An old friend mine from when I used to train at the Lee Da Academy. I'll explain it all later; for now, we have some very urgent news for you guys and Master Shifu."

"Luckily," said Po, grinning broadly, "I've already got him."

Lǎoyīng looked to the old red panda standing by Po's side. "Huh, is that him? Wait, you've been gone to get him since Fēngcǎi started talking? How were you able to do that and come back here so quickly, and without being noticed?"

Po winked. "You'd be surprised at what you can do with a little Inner Peace."

"Now," said Shifu. "What is this urgent news that you have for us?"

"Well, you see," Po began, "those bird bandits we dealt with at my Dad's noodle shop were working with those bandits we fought back at Bao Gu Orphanage. But see, here's the thing; these guys are not really bandits."

"They're soldiers," said Tigress. "They're from an army that's being brooded in a place called Dài Bào and is led by someone named Tai-Huang Mei."

Crane took over from there. "She's planning on conquering the Xiahe County in the Gansu Province, and the Garnet Palace to get her hands on the Phoenix Scroll. And she plans to do this with the aid of the Wu Sisters."

Shifu gazed into space gravely. "The Phoenix Scroll, an army, the Wu Sisters? This is beyond serious."

"Master," Tigress began to ask, "you know of the Phoenix Scroll?"

"Of course," Shifu replied hastily as he whipped his head around to face the strong feline. "It is the equivalent of the Dragon Scroll. Only the one who is truly worthy of the title Phoenix Warrior may hold the scroll's secret to great power. Of course, knowing the message of the Dragon Scroll on the secret to such power, the Phoenix Scroll's message should be no different."

Everyone else—except for Lǎoyīng, who hardly knew anything about either of these scrolls—nodded in agreement, remembering that the Dragon Scroll was seemingly blank, yet its reflective surface symbolized that the true key to success was oneself. Surely, this Phoenix Scroll must hold the same message.

"Even if this Tai-Huang Mei cannot decode the scroll's cryptic message and obtain the power it offers nevertheless," Shifu continued, "this army of hers is still a great threat to Xiahe. We will need to take immediate action." He looked to Po. "Panda, you and the Five are to set off immediately for Gansu. The place called Dài Bào is in the county of Maqu, so you will infiltrate it through the Baima County of the Qinghai Province. Find this Tai-Huang Mei, cease this plan of hers, and have her brought to justice. And remember, Po, always believe in what can be done when wholly at peace."

Po saluted with fist in palm and bowed. "Yes, Master Shifu. All right, Five, let's packing so we can go kick some villainous booty!"

Monkey blinked through half-hooded eyes on a flat expression. "Just as long as you're not packing my almond cookies."

"Y'know, since you're mentioning snacks, Kāilǎng," Crane said as he nudged Monkey in the shoulder with a wing, "I think we should have a little talk about that 'taking turns in reminding Po to not take snack stops.' I think someone's slacked a bit on that today."

Monkey gulped—Crane had just addressed him by his real name instead of his honorary title; he knew this meant that they were in for a serious talk.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the gingko copse, the Róulìn troops that escaped capture watched as some snake troops came slithering towards them, dragging along some sheets of black silk, as Xiǎn Mei had requested for her plan.

Jing Lì, who had finally appointed a new crocodile and wolf to replace Lín Jīn and Lang, looked to Xiǎn Mei, as if seeking approval. "Well, does that look like we've got enough now?"

Xiǎn Mei nodded in satisfaction. "That should do. Unfortunately, it seems our serpent comrades couldn't find us any sewing needles."

Jing Lì folded his arms and shrugged. "Does it make that much of a difference? We're warriors, not seamstresses. We don't know head to tail what all that 'knit one, purl two' stuff means."

Xiǎn Mei coughed. "Well, my mother was a seamstress. Before I left to become a warrior, she'd been teaching me the art of sewing. She's always longed for me to become a seamstress like herself." She sighed. "But the bland, simple life of a sewer just wasn't suited for the likes of me. Fortunately for this situation, however, I may still have some sewing skills that Mother always tried to force into me."

"And how do you plan to do this without needles?" asked Jing Lì.

For answer, Xiǎn Mei protracted her claws and counted them all daintily. "It pays to be resourceful, that's one of the things that Mother's taught me. All right, snakes, let me see those silks."

* * *

**Finally, our heros are setting off to thwart Tai-Huang's plan and bring her to justice. But does more lay ahead of them on this journey than they expect?**

* * *

**A/N:**

**Chor-Ghom Prison is located at Tavan Bogd, a mountain at the extreme edge of Mongolia that is closest to the XinJiang Province of China. Considering how soon it took Zeng to get to Chor-Ghom Prison and back, I figured that the Valley of Peace is located somewhere in XinJiang. This is also why Po and the Five are traveling through the Qinghai Province to Gansu.**


	15. As the Six Departs

The crow flock sent by Lady Tai-Huang had finally reached the Shaanxi Province, where Jìng-Bào lay. They flew until they had reached the prisons more precise location, the Nánzhèng Xiàn County of the Hànzhōng Prefecture.

"When we see the sands of the Desert of Agony," said the leader of the flock, "we'd best go high. _Real_ high—I hear Jìng-Bào's got archers within 40 li of the prison. Lots of archers, and darn good ones."

"Okay," said the nearest crow subordinate. "So what happens when we reach the place, huh? Just soar around over the prison out of arrow range for days until we see a bat flying in?"

The leader thwacked the subordinate roughly around the head with his bill. "No, feather head. Xiān-Jiàn Zhě said that the bat will be coming from Gongmen City, so that means he'll be entering the desert through the south. We'll just patrol the southern border until we see that bat." He turned his head to the rest of his troops. "You'll all split up into pairs once we get there, so buddy up. Once you see that winged rat, herd him towards me, and I'll plant the bug on him. _Ow!_" He winced as Suǒjiang Zhū dealt him a sharp pinch at the back of his neck.

"I'm an arachnid, you birdbrain," the little spider locksmith retorted indignantly.

The crow leader was about to return an indignant remark, when one of the subordinates of the flock called out, "Sand ho!"

"Don't you mean _land_ ho?" asked one of the speaker's comrades.

"No, _sand_! There, up ahead. There's sand—it's the desert! Sand ho!"

The crow who had exclaimed the sight of sand was right. Up ahead at the horizon, the plains that the crows were soaring across ended as a vast, beige expanse of sand—this was the Desert of Agony.

The flock leader angled his head up at the sky to note the sun's position, then looked to the right of the sandy field. "That should be south. Flock, turn!" With that, he veered sharply to his right, and began ascended into the sky. In turn, the rest of the flock followed, flying southwardly along the desert's border.

* * *

Back at the Valley of Peace, Po and the Five were descending the 1,000 steps of Jade Mountain. Almost all of them had made another attire change—Crane was now wearing scarlet pants with a blue sash; Monkey had grey wristbands, green sweatpants and an orange sash; and Tigress had changed back to her usual red vest and black pants. Po kept the robes he was currently wearing, having often dreamt of himself in that sort of attire—he dearly wanted to look like as he envisioned himself in his dreams on the journey he was about to embark on. Viper and Mantis made no outfit change, for (as noted earlier) they never wore any clothing of which to speak of.

Lǎoyīng, the falcon prisoner, walked beside Crane. The noodles that kept his wings tied were replaced with thick ropes, and his sash was tied around his neck on one end, and around Crane's ankle on the other. He pecked at the ropes around his wings disdainfully. "Hey, Fēngcǎi, I can understand tying up my wings and all–"

"You will address me as Master Crane," Crane interrupted, coming to an abrupt halt.

Lǎoyīng rolled his eyes. "All right, Master Crane. I can understand tying up my wings, but is this leash really necessary?"

"Yes. That way I can keep you near me at all times, and it'll be easier for me for to catch you if you tried to make any attempts at escape."

"Well, don't think I'll be making an plans at that any time soon, Crane. I'm a little too interested in getting more acquainted with Mei Ling's first bird friend."

Crane suddenly whipped his around to look at Lǎoyīng. "Now wait just a minute! Where'd you get the idea that I… Oh, you said _bird_ friend. Sorry, I thought you said… Never mind. So, you're interested in knowing me more, huh?"

"Well, aren't _you_?

"Well, yes."

"Come on, Crane," Monkey called out. "Quit lagging behind. You're usually the one ahead of us, next to Po."

"Right," Crane replied as he began to quicken his pace. "Coming."

Lǎoyīng had to break into a sprint to keep up with his taller captor. "Slow down a little, will you? My legs are not as long as yours." _I swear, if he breaks into a jog, I'll be hanged sideways._

* * *

The Startling Six's first stop, before ultimately setting off on their quest, was Mr. Ping's noodle shop, where Po would bid his father farewell. As he had for on his quest to Gongmen City, Mr. Ping made a travel pack filled with weeks worth of rations and his action figures, which Lǎoyīng found much hilarity in.

Mr. Ping rubbed his wings together apprehensively as he looked up at his ursine son. "Oh, Po, do promise to be careful and to come back okay. You know how worried I was for you when you left for Gongmen City."

"Don't worry about a thing, Dad," said Po reassuringly. "As long as I'm the Dragon Warrior, I can assure you that I'll be back without a scratch on me. You can even expect me to be coming back this way with some enemy armor for a souvenir. Besides, if I can handle an armada of bloodthirsty wolves, cannons, and a psychotic pyromanic peacock, this Tai-Huang shouldn't be too much of a biggy."

The old goose smiled up at Po in thanks, and the two exchanged a long, warm hug.

Lǎoyīng lightly nudged Crane's ankle. "So, uh…the panda…he's…?"

Crane nodded for answer.

When the hug between the goose and panda was finished, the six warriors and falcon prisoner proceeded on their journey to the Gansu Province.

* * *

The sun was setting over the gingko copse. After a painstaking (and rather degrading) work of sewing together sheets of black cloth with only her claws, Xiǎn Mei had finally finished the last of the outfits. She had tried her hardest not to feel like a common housewife in the process of this labor, which somewhat worked, because having to sew with only her claws, she felt more like a country bumpkin.

"There," she sighed, dropping the finished outfit. "They're all finished."

Having shed his armor, a monitor lizard soldier slid one of the outfits on. It fit on his slim, sinuous body quite splendidly. "Thisss stealthy infiltration of the orphanage will sssplendid."

Xiǎn Mei nodded, a thin smile growing on her lips. "I'm confident it will be a success."

"I would doubt that it wouldn't," said a fea's viper, who tried on an outfit herself.

Starting to feel confident about Xiǎn Mei's plan himself, Jing Lì rubbed his hooves together in anticipation as a broad, satisfied grin grew on his features. "That Yang Stone is as good as ours."

* * *

Shifu sat perched upon the fork of his staff as he meditated within the Dragon's Grotto, watching as the sun made its descent into the horizon, dragging the remnants of daylight along with it. All was peaceful, and all was tranquil. But then, Shifu felt a disturbance occurring somewhere past Jade Palace, somewhere in the village—in Bao Gu Orphanage.

* * *

Felines, snakes and monitors gathered by the gates of the orphanage, watching as the sun sank into the distance. Xiǎn Mei went over the plan with the troops a second time.

"Once everyone there is asleep, we carefully make our entry through those holes that our comrades had left in our previous raid. We will carefully and very stealthily search every corner of the building's interior. You must be as silent as the air and move like a shadow; that is all you will be, shadows in the night. Every step, every action, every breath you take must be light and cautious. No one is to know of our presence. Whoever finds the Yang Stone, find me and I will rally the others out. Any questions?"

"What if sssomeone wakesss all of the sssuden? What happensss then?" asked a monitor.

For answer, Xiǎn Mei ran a claw along the edge of one of the flame-like blades of her fenghuo lun ring, as a menacing smile made its way across her lips. "If any sleeper should wake, they will wake up to the nightmare of their lives."

* * *

The children of the orphanage were retiring to their bedrooms, and Qiáng Jiǎo's friends were bidding the young joey good night.

"Can you believe we got to see and talk to the Startling Six?" asked the young pangolin.

"It was bound to happen, sooner or latter, Chuānshānjiǎ," replied Qiáng Jiǎo confidently. "We've trained ourselves to be like them so much that we were just destined to meet them in person."

"Do you really think the day will come when they take us in and train us to be like them?" asked the gharial hopefully.

"Oh, it's bound to happen, Zhǎi Huì. Like I said, we've trained ourselves so much that it's our destiny. Remember the story of Master Tigress—she was once like us, and then Shifu came and took her in. One way or another, we'll find our way to them and be trained by them. I mean, even if we get adopted by someone else, we'll all meet each other in Jade Palace, right?"

"Right," Qiáng Jiǎo's friends all replied in unison.

Qiáng Jiǎo nodded in approval, with a broad grin on his features. "Great! Now, let's be off to bed—us will-be warriors need our rest." He then saluted with fist in palm and bowed. "Masters."

His friends returned the salute and departed to their beds, as did the young wallaby.

* * *

Chuānshānjiǎ, the young pangolin, slept soundly in his little cot next that of Zhǎi Huì the gharial. Huáng, the young barn owl, would sleep above the two, perched in the rafters, along with Qiáng Mei, the young rhinoceros beetle.

Indeed, young Chuānshānjiǎ slept soundly, darkness filling the vision of his closed eyes as he drifted into the pleasant realm of slumber, utterly unaware (as everyone else was) of intruders that seeped into the building as silently and stealthily as shadows in the night. However, Chuānshānjiǎ was soon to find that his slumber would take him elsewhere—and it did. He found himself in what he would have acknowledged as a gorgeous room, had its dim lighting of few incense candles not given it an eerie atmosphere. He was standing next to a great throne, on which he saw what he would have easily mistaken as Master Tigress, had it not been for this feline figure's whitish fur, sitting upon, with a hooded snake coiled around her broad shoulders.

There was a large, burly snow leopard standing before the throne. His golden eyes blazed fiercely in his savage features. On his right shoulder, there was a spiked shoulder plate, and his arm ended with a metal gauntlet.

_That must be Tai Lung_, Chuānshānjiǎ thought as he scurried furtively behind the throne. _But it can't be. The Dragon Warrior defeated him with the Wuxi Finger Hold._

The big leopard, with his gauntleted hand pressed against his chest, bowed lightly before Lady Tai-Huang. "My Lady," he began, with a voice that carried an accent surprising classy for a such a barbarous-looking creature, "I have this idea for quite some time since I merged forces with you. If I could be so bold as to venture a suggestion, perhaps after you have claimed Garnet Palace and conquered Chāo-Hépíng, we could direct our goals towards the Valley of Peace and Jade Palace."

Chuānshānjiǎ could see Tai Lung's brutish head twitch a faint nod as if to signal either Tai-Huang or Nāgá. He figured it was Nāgá, for the serpent's hooded head also returned the vague movement before turning to face Tai-Huang.

"Even as a counsellor myself, I strongly agree with Tai Lung's suggestion," said the cobra. "It is a goal he has held for years, My Lady. It would a fine gesture of comradeship to aid him in this goal. Not only that; if we conquer the Valley, it will be another part of China that will know of your greatness."

Chuānshānjiǎ had to fight off a gasp—they're going to take over the Valley of Peace. As if Tai Lung still being alive was not bad enough, he now had allies. How the pangolin wished he were back there.

He saw Tai-Huang nodding.

"It certainly is something to consider," said the white tigress. She seemed to pause, as if something had caught her attention.

Chuānshānjiǎ went frozen with horror as Tai-Huang leaned over the left side of her throne to see the small pangolin hiding behind it. Her light blue eyes beamed a fierce, icy gaze that pierced Chuānshānjiǎ's soul like an icicle. She said only one thing: "Hello…"

At that instant, everything went black for Chuānshānjiǎ, but it passed in but a flash, for he quickly found himself jerking upward from his bed. Before he could scream from what his frightening experience, he felt a strong grip around his muzzle, clasping his mouth shut, and something hard and cold being pressed against his throat. He shifted his eyes downward and saw a scimitar. He then looked up and saw a lizard-like figure looming over him—this must be the one who was holding Chuānshānjiǎ's mouth shut and pressing the sword against his throat.

"Make a sssound," whispered the lizard, "and it will the lassst you ever make. Do you know where the Yang Ssstone is hidden?"

Chuānshānjiǎ remembered one of the bandits that attacked the orphanage earlier shouting something about a Yang Stone after Qiáng Jiǎo showed Tigress a medallion that looked a lot like a yang, but he knew he couldn't tell the lizard that. He would be snitching on Qiáng Jiǎo, and even possibly putting him in danger. So, for answer, Chuānshānjiǎ shook his head and tried his best look as though he had no clue what this Yang Stone was. He then felt the scimitar pressing harder against his throat.

"We've traveled very far for thisss stone," hissed the lizard in a harsh whisper. "We have faced a great beating in our attempt to obtain it. We refussse to be foiled a sssecond time. You had better be ssspeaking the truth, pangolin."

"I am certain he is," a voice said from behind the lizard.

The reptile looked behind and saw a red panda, cladded in orange and green robes, standing atop a forked staff. Before the lizard could react, the red panda delivered a stunning roundhouse kick to the reptile's jaw, toppling him.

This called the attention of the other leopards, lizards and snakes. They now knew that their cover was blown.

"Soldiers!" cried Xiǎn Mei. "Attack!"

Her subordinates need no second bidding. Leopards, lizards and snakes instantly came lunging towards Shifu, with blades, claws and fangs all bared for the attack. In their eyes, their target was but a feeble old man, but when they came within close-enough proximity, they learned quite painfully how much they had underestimated him. He was stunningly swift for one at an advanced age, and as powerful when delivering blows as well.

The thieves went flying here and there whilst the bystanders leapt from their beds and fled their rooms. A leopard tossed several throwing stars at Shifu, but the red panda redirected them all towards a nearby monitor lizard, pinning him to a wall by his clothes. Two tree vipers then tried to strike at Shifu from behind, but he grabbed them both by their necks and began twirling around rapidly like a top, using the snakes to knock over any enemy that came with close proximity. Xiǎn Mei, however, didn't go down as easily as the others; she was able to dodge and block Shifu's every blow, but likewise applied to Shifu himself—they were equals in this duel, and neither of them showed any signs of giving in anytime soon.

"Where is the Yang Stone?" Xiǎn Mei growled demandingly.

"It is not here," Shifu replied as he deflected one of Xiǎn Mei's kicks. "You no longer have any need to harass these orphans, but I must give you this warning to leave our Valley in peace."

Now Xiǎn Mei was really loosing her patience. She began throwing a myriad of furious punches at a blinding speed. "Tell us where the stone is, and we'll do just that. If you don't, I'll order my troops to make pincushions out of every orphan here!" That's when she found the red panda grabbing on to her finger, with the pinky finger of his own paw pointing up.

The clouded leopard gasped. "The Wuxi Finger Hold!"

Shifu serious expression quickly altered into a more amused one. "Oh, so you know this move."

Xiǎn Mei came down to her knees, her golden eyes widened with horror. "Developed by Master Wuxi in the Third Dynasty. Once used it to defeat the leader of an invading Japanese pirate fleet. Yes."

Shifu nodded. "It seems you've studied your Kung Fu history. So, I'm supposing you also know what happened to that pirate leader when Master Wuxi flexed his pinky."

Xiǎn Mei waved her free paw as if to restrain the old red panda from preforming the move. No, no, please!"

"You have two options," said Shifu. "You either forget about this Yang Stone, depart this orphanage, and leave this Valley, or you learn what it's like to be Wuxi Finger Held."

Xiǎn Mei held up her free paw passively and bowed her head submissively. "All right, all right! You win; we'll leave."

Shifu nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent. Now, gather your troops."

Xiǎn Mei nodded and did as bade. "Soldiers, get up. We're leaving."

The soldiers who could get up rose groggily, carrying or dragging along their less mobile comrades as they followed Xiǎn Mei to the exit of the orphanage. They all trod past the courtyard of the orphanage, with Shifu marching alongside them to make sure they were leaving.

Xiǎn Mei took a few furtive glances at the old red panda, and when she judged that he wouldn't notice, she nudged a nearby monitor lizard and began making a series of gestures with her fingers and paws, some of them including pointing towards Shifu or one of the snakes behind herself and the lizard she was giving the message to.

The lizard understood the message well. He nodded and furtively and surreptitiously as he could, he lagged back within the ranks of his onward marching comrades until he was marching next to a Chinese Cobra. He lightly tapped her on the back with his tail, and when the snake turned her head to face him, the lizard made the same hand gestures Xiǎn Mei showed him.

Despite her lack of hands—what with being a snake—the cobra, as well, understood the message and nodded in confirmation. With the message received, the cobra furtively, yet attentively, watched Shifu.

* * *

**Uh oh… What could those troops be planning this time? Will they succeed in obtain the Yang Medallion? Can Shifu stop them? Stay tuned.**

* * *

**A/N 1:**

**Chuānshānjiǎ (Pronounced: Chon Shon Jee-ah) = Pangolin**

**Zhǎi Huì (Pronounced: Jie Hway) = Narrow Snout**

**I may have already stated this before, but, Huáng (Pronounced: Hwong) = Female Phoenix**

* * *

**A/N 2:**

**The coasts of China and Korea have been raided by pirates from Japan since the 13th century. Since Master Wuxi developed the Finger Hold in the Third Dynasty, which apparently would be the Shang Dynasty (which started in 1600 BC), this invasion of Japanese pirates may not be historically correct, but I guess we can call the pirate invasion Master Wuxi dealt with an isolated incident.**


	16. Enter the Thieves

**Remember that strange dream ****Chuānshānjiǎ had? Well, it was no dream. Let's see what's been going on in Tai-Huang's palace since our little pangolin's sudden departure.**

* * *

Tai Lung gripped fiercely onto the left arm of Lady Tai-Huang's throne as he peered behind it. "Who was he?" he asked in a low growl. "How did a pangolin get into your palace? The whole place is heavily guarded."

Tai-Huang shook her head lightly as she shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's with those four thieves who somehow always manage to swindle supplies from under our noses. They must've found themselves a fifth."

Nāgá's coils tightened and loosened with uncertainty as he brought his snout close to Tai-Huang's ear. "My Lady, are you sure they would recruit one so young?"

Tai-Huang fiddled with her cobra advisor's tail in her fingers thoughtfully. "If that child could infiltrate my throne room without any detection from my guards and suddenly vanish out of thin air just as he did, why wouldn't they recruit him?"

Tai Lung looked to the white tigress Lady. "Shouldn't we send our guards to scour the area?"

"For what?" asked Tai-Huang. "For a pangolin who can pop in and out wherever and whenever he pleases? He could've instantly transported himself to the other side of the world for all we know."

"Well, we cannot just let that pangolin continue popping in and out of the palace, plundering things that may be vital to us," Tai Lung retorted.

Tai-Huang rubbed her right temple. "I don't think there is much we can do at the moment, not for tonight. I must retire to my bedchamber—perhaps a solution to our pangolin pest problem will come to me in my dreams."

"I think that is a wise choice, My Lady," said Nāgá, nodding as he slithered down from his perch on the tigress' shoulders to the floor. "Rest does wonders for a weary mind."

Tai-Huang gave a nod to the serpent, then returned her attention to the burly snow leopard. She bowed. "Tai Lung, a bid you good night."

Tai Lung bowed with fist in palm in salute. "And to you, My Lady."

As Tai Lung departed the throne room, the Lady of Dài Bào made her way to her bedchamber, her reptilian counselor slithering behind. Oblivious all three of them were of the black silk-garbed figure standing crouched on the railing of the balcony of Tai-Huang's throne room.

The figure stood erectly, extended her arms out from her sides, closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and made a backwards leap, diving down the palace's height and landing deftly on her paws at the edge of the mountain on which the palace stood upon. She then rose to her feet and looked to the wolf, ox and crocodile guards patrolling the area around the palace—they didn't notice a thing.

The darkly-cladded infiltrator would've let out a faint sigh, but she knew she wasn't out of the woods yet. She then made another backwards leap over the edge of the mountain, diving down its immense height. For most people, jumping off a building was one thing, but to jump off a mountain was simply insane, practically suicidal, but just as our mystery infiltrator had done before, she landed softly and skillfully on her paws, making nary a sound. She then sat down, gazed up at the height of Mount Mián Xiǎn and Fort Tóng Fùmiè, and finally exhaled. She then rose to her feet and padded along the circumference of the mountain until she had found the spot she had been looking for. It was a hole in the foot of the mountain. She got down on all fours and crawled into the hole, following the diagonally descending tunnel until she found herself in an antechamber. She stood up erectly and strode her way towards one of the four true chambers branching out from the antechamber – this one had a three-chaired table, and seated at this table was a Masked Palm Civet clad in a magenta with metallic-green trimming and bright orange pants, and a rather tall, strapping vixen clad in a gold-trimmed red vest and violet pants, with bracelets and anklets of bronze, silver, and gold, and tattoos of clashing swords and yuan symbols on her sinewy arms. Perched atop this vixen's shoulder was a shifty-eyed magpie who wore several golden rings on his talons.

Both civet and vixen, who had originally been conversing usual matters, turned their attention to the black-garbed visitor, whom they recognized as one of their own.

"So," began the civet, raising a brow. "What have you manage to swindle from those SteelClaw goons, Mei Ling?"

The black-cladded figure then shed her night-colored attire, revealing the teal tunic, cuirass and pants underneath, along with her identity as a mountain cat with light-brown fur and darker-brown spot-like stripes. Her bright-orange eyes shone with a daring light on her usually charming and friendly features, but her expression was quite blank as she related her tidings. "I was only able to swindle some information from Tai-Huang. It's not very good—Tai Lung's suggesting to Tai-Huang that she direct her forces towards the Valley of Peace."

The vixen's ears perked as she came alert to the mentioning of the Valley of Peace. "Valley of Peace? Isn't that where your crane friend went to train at Jade Palace?"

Mei Ling nodded grimly. "Yes, Qiáng-Hú, and that's what worries me. If this new threat is going to approach the Valley, Crane should know about it as soon as he can. I think someone should go and warn him."

"I can fly over to Xīnjiāng and deliver the warning to him," volunteered the magpie as fluttered down from Qiáng-Hú's shoulder onto the table.

Mei Ling shook her head as she took a rice hat off a hook on the wall of the chamber. "No, Què, I think it's best that he receives this message from…an old friend." She placed the hat on her head and looked to Qiáng-Hú. "I'll be the one to go. Qiáng-Hú, you'll be in charge of the gang while I'm away."

Qiáng-Hú nodded and saluted with fist in palm.

"Be extra careful on your thieving missions," Mei Ling added. "Watch how much you take at a time—quantity's good, but don't let your thievery instincts get in the way of sense."

Qiáng-Hú nodded. "Understood, Mei Ling."

"Què," Mei Ling continued as she looked to the magpie, "make _sure_ her thievery instincts don't get the better of her. And even though I'm placing her in charge, you have my permission to adopt full authority over her if she makes any stupid decisions."

Què bowed in salute. "Yes, Mei Ling."

Mei Ling gave a nod of approval. "Very good." She then saluted with fist in palm and a bow before turning to exit the chamber. Just as she was standing below the mouth of the exit tunnel in the antechamber, she turned once more to her three comrades. "Oh, and one more thing."

Què, Qiáng-Hú and the civet all leaned in to hear Mei Ling's final instruction.

The mountain cat's expression changed to her usual friendly, audacious expression. "Língmāo, Qiáng-Hú, try not to kill each other while I'm away."

Língmāo the civet and Qiáng-Hú grinned in amusement and saluted. "We'll try our best not to."

Mei Ling then looked to Què. "Make sure any disputes between them don't get out of hand."

Què nodded and bowed. "Yes, Mei Ling."

Mei Ling gave one last salute before entering the tunnel and exiting the hideout. When she was outside, she glanced up at the star-strewn sky and swiftly yet stealthily dashed off through the village and barracks of the SteelClaw Army like a fleeting shadow. When she was out of the village, she took one last rueful glance back as she remembered the many poor slaves that resided in that village along with the soldiers, the slaves of whom Mei Ling and her comrades had stolen from Tai-Huang's fortress to provide for. It pained her deeply to leave them, but she knew that what she was doing now would prove even more helpful to them then all the donations she and her friends had given them out of the robberies they've made. She silently vowed to the slaves that she would return, and that soon enough, when the threat of Tai-Huang has been vanquished, they shall all be free. She finally turned and proceeded her departure of the wasteland of Dài Bào. The journey to the Valley of Peace had begun.

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**Looks like we've learned a little about Mei Ling's been up to since she and Crane went their separate ways; living the life of a freedom-fighting, Robin Hood-esque kind of character. And it seems that her ways and Crane's won't be parted for much longer. Stay tuned and see what's to come.**

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**A/N 1:**

**Língmāo = Civet**

**Qiáng-Hú = Strong Fox**

**Què (Pronounced: Cheh) = Magpie**

**Yuán (the currency of China) is pronounced "Yoo-en," and it must be pronounced quickly so that it almost sounds like the Japanese Yen. It is often mispronounced as "Won" or "Yoo-on." The symbol for Yuán is ¥, which is the same symbol for Japanese Yen.**

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**A/N 2:**

**Què is a Korean Magpie(**Pica P. Sericea**), a subspecies of the European Magpie (**Pica Pica**), although it is sometimes called the Chinese Magpie, because it is also common in China, or—more generally—the Asian Magpie.**

**Què was born and raised in China, but ancestry may root back to Korea.**

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**A/N 3:**

**Què and ****Qiáng-Hú are both OCs I made on Deviant Art. There, ********Qiáng-Hú's name is spelled ********Qiánghú.**


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